Darkness Barrier
by Queen of the Faeries1
Summary: A story about the darkness barrier Rose built up around herself. Newly edited to balance out the chapters.
1. Michael

**Darkness Barrier**

_Author's Note:_ Aren't you tired of these things? This is flashback of Rose, about when Michael was there. The present tense is the present, with her thinking, and the past tense is (obviously) the past, of what happened. But I'm so used to writing in the present tense, so excuse me if the grammar is incorrect. I didn't really understand the entire thing with Rose and Michael, so I just had to write down something to help clarify it for myself. Also to prove that maybe it wasn't only Zieg's death that changed Rose, but also Michael's. By the way, this takes place way before Dart or Albert or Lloyd, so you won't see them here.

_Disclaimer:_ Rose and Michael belong to Squaresoft. The only things that are mine are Ceplao, Tratmick, Darius, Kristoff, and Kata.

_- _is Rose's thinking

Please ignore the little o that show up in the middle. doesn't allow line breaks so something has to go there to separate.

**Chapter One: Michael**

He was the only thing that she had left. The only piece of her past that she could hold on to, to convince her she was real. The last shred of her sanity, to keep her from impaling herself on her sword. Not that anyone would care. No one still alive, that is.

Michael, her Black Burst Dragon, her partner, her protector, her savior. He had been the one to drag her out of the palace while she sobbed and screamed as Zieg disappeared into stone. Michael was her guardian, taking care of her, but what's more, he was her friend.

With the strength of a Dragon, the love of a friend, the compassion of a partner, the protection of family, and the honor of a warrior, he was the best companion any person could ask for. Or at least, a person going through the very dreariest times of her life, after all her friends died and her soulmate turned to stone. Also, having to transform into a shapeless Black Monster every 108 years to go and kill people for some stupid prophecy that was tossed onto her head. Michael was there for her.

And that was all in the past.

She flips onto her stomach, turning her face away from the cloudless sky, burying her head in the flowers of the meadow. She needs something, _anything_, some sense that will take her away.

She lifts her head and cups a particularly red flower against her palm. A rose, her namesake. Much like her. Soft petals, soft skin. Slender stem, slender body. Beautiful flower, beautiful Dragoon-Human. Much like her. But something is wrong.

She draws her sword from its scabbard and scrapes the edge along the palm of her hand, spilling black blood over the flower.

There. _Now_ the rose looks like her.

She tries to smile, fail. What was smiling like?

Perhaps before, she would have smiled. Now she cannot.

She sits near the hidden cove by the Midlake near Bale, where only people with wings can go. No one is here, no one but herself. Her sensitive ears can pick up on the sound of celebration far away. In Bale, the capital of Serdio. She had heard that the people were celebrating the birth of a new prince or something like that. A firework goes off, and she closes her eyes, shutting out anything she doesn't want. But she cannot do the same for the pain.

Rose buries her head in her arms and reminisces about what happened.

o

The smoke lingered in her clothes even though she was miles away from the village of Tratmick.

She turned around, narrowing her eyes so that she could see the column of smoke that emitted from the village. If she closed her eyes, she could still see the burnt bodies and hear the howls of pain.

She felt something push at her right shoulder, and she turned around to face him. "Michael." She leaned against his hawk-like body for comfort. "We did it again."

The Dragon was sleek and dark, with widespread wings, so that he reminded her of some black eagle diving down at its prey with the speed of a Wingly and the force of a Giganto. The protective ribs enclosing its heart rustled slightly. Their connection allowed them to talk at times, but it took great energy on both parts, and she was just too tired to summon up that power.

And suddenly he was gone, leaving her to stumble and regain her balance. At first she was miffed, until she heard the clattering of wagon wheels against the rocky terrain. Michael had flown over one of the mountains protecting the valley she was traveling in, to hide from Human eyes. He mustn't have had enough time to hide above the clouds.

The wagon wheels sound grew louder until it was parked directly in front of her. The driver was an old man with sweat and grease on his face, tightly gripping the reins of a large dera, one of those ugly hamster-chicken-mule-bull-looking things that were used for pulling wagons and plowing fields. The wagon was filled to the top with water and food, all wrapped up. Her guess was that the man was a merchant on his way to town.

"Hey, kid, did you come from that village over there?" He pointed down the valley toward Tratmick.

"Yes." She replied flatly.

"What's going on there? I'm supposed to bring these supplies there, but when I sent my messenger bird to verify, it came back covered in ash and still holding the message! You know what's going on?"

She stared at him coldly, fixing him with the same gray gaze that she gave everyone, like smoke from a fresh fire. There would be no risk telling him. If he showed signs of understanding, then she would simply have to kill him. She had no scruples about that.

"My name's Torrin. Be a good girl and tell me, and I'll give you ten Gold." He offered.

She tossed her head back, raven hair flying over her shoulder. "Tratmick has been completely destroyed."

Well, he didn't expect that. Torrin sat perfectly still in his seat, blinking. "Destroyed?" he echoed hollowly.

"Destroyed." Rose repeated. "You know, _gone_."

Torrin snorted. "My mistake to trust a little girl on something so important as this run. Outta the way." For someone with his age, he sure had a nasty attitude.

She moved, ducking along the side of the wagon. She could hear Torrin snapping the whip again, and the wagon started to roll along again. She dipped her hand into the back, between the flaps of the canvas. As an expert thief, her fingers snagged food packets and water flasks faster than anyone else could, and without the merchant knowing as he drove away.

After a period of a few seconds, when the wagon was gone, Michael soared above and then landed next to her. He was not a large Dragon, not as large as Feyrbrand or the Golden Dragon, but he was among the most powerful and the best. Only her height and a bit over three times her length, Michael had a powerful attack that could destroy virtually anything.

As his master, she could draw on that power. That was how she transformed into the Black Monster and destroyed Tratmick.

She laid the flat of her palm against his face. "Come on, Michael, let's go."

o

Michael hid in the swamplands while she traveled further to Bale. She was a grown woman, not at all like the little girl that Torrin called me. She was over ten thousand years old and carried with her the wisdom of the ages and the pain of countless generations. She knew how to defend herself.

She headed for the tavern immediately, and took a seat at the bar. It was safer here, than in some little dark shadow where she could be cornered. The seat next to her was empty, which was good. It gave her more space to draw her sword if that needed be.

"What do you want?" The bartender asked her.

"I don't care. Your heaviest drink." She answered. Her body automatically neutralized any poison that she consumed anyway. She felt tired, so tired… She always did right after killing the Moon Child.

"Did you see that celebration?" One Serdian chattered to another. "It was spectacular!"

"All for one child…good grief, I'm telling you, this kid better be the best king that Serdio ever had, with all the money that he drained out of the treasury."

Something clicked in her mind, and a strange emotion like fear welled up in her throat. She nearly choked on her drink.

_- _The Serdian prince-child was born around the same time as the Moon Child. Could it be possible that I was wrong? What if I had gotten the wrong information? -

No, she had done her research very carefully on this particular mission. The Moon Child this time had been difficult to track down, but she had done it.

"Oh gods!" A new person burst into the tavern. "Tratmick has been destroyed!"

The tavern was in chaos, hundreds of questions being tossed around. "Destroyed? How? What happened? Is everyone okay?"

"The Black Monster killed everyone and burned the village! It's completely destroyed!"

"The Black Monster." A fierce woman with her hair tied up scowled from a corner of the room. "That bastard. Every time the Moon That Never Sets glares red, the Black Monster comes and destroys the town that harbors the Moon Child. The Black Monster deserves to burn in hell!"

-Fools. If only you knew what I was really trying to do for you people-

Vaguely, she felt someone take the seat next to her but didn't bother to turn around and see who it was. It would just be another nondescript face that would die eventually anyway. What was the point of making friends when they were always torn away from you?

- Damia…I wish you were here now -

Downing the rest of her drink, Rose left half a handful of Gold on the bar and left the tavern.

o

"Michael?" She called as she wandered through the swamplands. "Michael!"

He was oddly hiding from her today. What was the matter? Usually he couldn't wait to be with her again, like a frisking puppy welcoming a mistress who had been gone for the entire day. A very large flying puppy with deadly black energy, but frisking nevertheless. Why was he hiding from her? Was it a game?

"Michael?"

She could always use the Dragoon Spirit to find him, or stretch out with her mind. But she was fatigued and all she wanted to do was sleep. She didn't want to call on the little energy needed to locate her Dragon companion. She barely had enough energy to keep trudging through the forest like this. After becoming the Black Monster, her strength was drained away significantly for the next two days. That was part of the reason that Michael stayed with her: to protect her. The other reason was that he was just too honorable to desert her.

"Michael? Come out here. No one's around." She called again. "Michael?"

She was walking under one of those moss-like trees when it decided to lighten the load it was carrying and dumped a heavy amount of slime onto her head as she walked by.

She yelped indignantly, wiping it away from her eyes. But nothing could get the gook out of her fine raven hair unless she had clean water, which she did not at the time.

- This has been a bad day…a very BAD day! -

With the slime squelching underneath her boots and dripping down her face, Rose continued her little trek through the marshlands. Where was the Dragon? Did something happen to him? The new worry flickered through her mind.

This time when a Myconido rushed by and knocked her heavily onto her backside before it ran away, Rose didn't say anything. Didn't scream, didn't yell. She simply sat there, clenching and unclenching her hand on her sword. A nearby Crocodile cowered behind the log it was sitting on, as if wondering what this powerful being was going to do.

Rose leapt to her feet and tossed her sword. The blade buried itself deeply into the trunk of a far-off tree. The Crocodile vanished in fear at the nearly visible anger of the Darkness Dragoon. "Michael!" She yelled.

When there was still no reply, she stalked over to where her sword was embedded in the tree trunk. She braced one long leg against the bark and yanked out her sword. It had been relatively clean, but now it was unsheathed and in her hand, which was still dripping with slime. What was worse, the slime was starting to dry, becoming a sticky shell all over her, like a snake's skin.

- I swear, when I find him… -

Rose stiffened immediately. That flash of knowledge that just ran through her mind… It was Michael, and it was something else.

"Michael?" her voice was soothing now.

She shoved a draping of long tree leaves out of her face and ducked into a new section of the swamplands, secluded and dismal.

Michael was there, in full battle mode, with the ribs surrounding the black laser twitching in anxiety for a fight. Facing him was a large creature, like an overgrown cricket. Way overgrown. It was much bigger than Michael was. Tinted a yellow-green color, the new creature was rumbling something.

"Feyrbrand!" Rose cried, overjoyed, all traces of her weariness gone.

The yellow-green Dragon lifted its head to look at her. It tilted its head in question and the agile woman raced across the dark clearing to embrace it. Well, one of its front legs anyway. She just barely came up to its thigh.

The Dragon made a sort of cooing noise, nudging her affectionately with its muzzle. Rose let go of it and stepped back, next to Michael. "Michael, what happened? I was calling forever and you didn't appear. When did you find Feyrbrand and why didn't you call me?"

She turned her attention back to the Jade Dragon. "Feyrbrand, why are you here?"

_Because I've no place else to go,_ it replied quietly. _The swampland suits me well. I blend in with the moss and I've found a large underground cave that I will use as my nest. There is sufficient food to keep me alive here until I find a new master _

"Are you sure you'll be all right here?"

_Quite sure._

"Be careful. Take good care of yourself." Rose went forward to hug it again. "I know that Syuveil would turn over in his grave if he knew I didn't stop you from dying in the marshlands."

_Goodbye. We will see each other again, Human-Dragoon._

Rose straddled on her own Dark Dragon's back, waving goodbye to the Jade Dragon. Michael didn't wait for her command, but lifted up, out of the clearing and into the skies. Evening was approaching; the sun was starting to dip below the horizon.

"What were you two doing when I first came upon you? What happened between you two?" She asked, raising her voice above the wind that rustled her sticky hair. "When I arrived, you two looked like you were about to fight? Were you arguing about something?"

_It is nothing_, Michael replied.

"Michael, as a Dragoon, I cannot have the Dragons fighting. What was it?"

_It is none of your concern. It is over now. We resolved it_. Michael soared higher and then suddenly plunged. It was a move that she had loved since they first bonded, the sheer delight as they plummeted, but knowing that she would never hit the ground, and it automatically washed away any doubts in her mind as she giggled.

It was as if she were two different people. One was Rose-the-hidden-Black-Monster, cold and aloof from Humans, powerful and nasty. The other was simply Rose the woman, lighthearted and laughing, a Human, only around Dragons. Two different people, with entirely different personalities.

Michael swooped to a stop, strong jet-like wings fluttering as they landed in the hidden cove by the Midlake, their favorite place because it was peaceful and quiet. Rose dismounted and headed toward the lake.

_I will guard you._

Although it was a hidden cove, occasionally a human would stumble upon it. So Michael had to protect Rose while she was bathing. Usually Michael hated to be seen mortal Humans because of the fuss it made. But the world knew there were Dragons in existence—although there were only three left—and it was not impossible to meet one, just highly unlikely.

Rose stripped off her cloth armor and scrubbed it clean before washing the offending slime out of her hair and face. After the sun and wind dried her skin, she donned her armor again, to find Michael staring at her. She tilted her head as she strapped her sword belt low on her hips. "What?"

_Humans and Dragons, or all species, look very different from us Dragons. But the emotions are the same. The master of my friend the Red-Eyed Dragon loved you. You still love him as well; it is obvious by the fluidness of your movements, like a female who has accepted great suffering._

Rose curled up under his torso, using his birdlike body to shield herself from the cold. "I'm tired, Michael. Will you protect me?"

_Always._ It seemed as though he never slept.

o

She awoke to the sound of rattling scales and the sudden coldness that rushed along her skin. "Michael?" She called. - Is he all right? –

She stumbled to her feet, grabbing her sword.

The energy blast nearly threw her off her feet. She raced toward the source, out of the Midlake and toward Bale.

A shadow crosses through the starlit night, so that she felt it more than saw it. She saw a pack of Forest Runners—odd, they didn't usually appear here—scattering in fear of something, and automatically she looked up at Michael.

The ribs around his heart fluttered and opened up, spreading wide to show a pulsating black organ, flooded with dark energy.

Rose's eyes widened as she realized what he was going to do. "Michael, no! Don't!"

Her words were lost in the roar of the wind, so she summoned up all her energy and sent it in thoughts. Michael either didn't hear it or ignored it, because the black energy fired once, twice, striking the pack of colorful birds. She watched, paralyzed, as most of them seemed to simply disappear into thin air, vaporized.

"Michael!" She screamed again, running to follow him.

He looped around and headed for the birds again, as they ran on ostrich-like legs. Rose braced her legs against the force of the wind that rose with him.

He fired the dark laser again, and this time it vaporized all the Forest Runners. Rose's mind swamped with their pain and death throes. The backlash literally swept her off her feet, knocking her into the air and landing her heavily against a boulder.

She let out a cry of pain as she danced in and out of consciousness. There was a sound of wings and then Michael was looming over her. _Master? _

Immediately she surged to her feet, ignoring the headache. "Why did you do that? You nearly hit _me_ with your laser!"

There was a different emotion in his mind, something like confusion and regret and doubt. _They were too close to the Midlake where you rested._

"That's a lie. It's nearly a mile from here to the Midlake. They were on a course toward the prairie. I would not have been disturbed." Rose reached out and grabbed Michael on both sides of his neck, forcing the connection.

His mind was a painting of black pictures, too dark to discern anything clearly. It was just beginning to clear up, but she had seen all she needed. He had just suffered a bout of bloodlust.

"Oh, Michael…" Rose sat down on the boulder, slowly. "I thought you got over that. I thought that we beat it together."

_The bloodlust can only be suppressed, not eliminated. I will suppress it again for you, Master. It will not happen again._ Michael's thoughts felt so forlorn that her reproaching words stopped in her throat and got no further. _I am sorry._

She put her arms around his neck gently. "It's all right. Just don't let it happen again, okay?"

_It will not_. he promised her and she could sense his resolute mind.

"Come. Let's go back to the Midlake."

Walking beside him, Rose couldn't help but wonder. Shielding her thoughts so that he couldn't sense them, she began to think. – Why did Michael go through bloodlust like that again? Why would he drop his honor for a few seconds to bask in the glory of victory? Why would killing Forest Runners with the black laser count as a victory? Why did the bloodlust come back, when we trained so hard to get it out of him? He and the Violet Dragon were always the two Dragons that loved fighting the most. Michael, you promised me it wouldn't happen again, but when the bloodlust flares up, all reason disappears. Will you keep your promise?

- I'm probably just being paranoid. I trust Michael. I don't need to worry. -

And yet there was something that still nagged in her.


	2. Snapped

**Chapter Two: Snapped String**

Even though she promised that she would try to trust him more, it was hard. He was constantly killing more than he needed to, and it was terrifying. She remembered how hard it had been to break him out of his bloodlust before. How difficult would it be this time?

She watched as he tore out the insides of another Forest Runner and her mind took her back to the Dragon Campaign.

_"Michael! Help!"_

_She screamed. The Darkness Dragon was already there, slamming the Virage away from her, thrusting its head straight through the Virage's body. Rose could feel his insane pleasure at the victory of defeating yet another enemy. The yellow-brown blood of the Virage stained Michael's muzzle but all he did was continue to smile, firing more of the black laser and killing more. His bloodlust filled her mind, so that she swung her sword savagely against a Wingly. The sound of metal and flesh rang in her ears and she could feel her lips pulling back in a wildcat smirk._

_"Rose! What are you doing?"_

_She stopped, surprised. "I…I don't know. Did I…"_

_"It's fine. You're supposed to kill. It's a war, darling. It's what I've been telling you all along." Zieg slashed his sword. "I'm glad you're getting the hang of it. We'll work on it."_

_The coldness, the firm stating of the facts, was frightening to her but it was when she first learned._

"Michael." She called softly. He stopped and stared at her. "It's enough. Let's go."

_I did it again, didn't I? _

"Yes."

_I'm sorry. _

"What makes the bloodlust happen? What started it?"

_I start feeling it when I see anything living aside from you. It just happens as if I am looking for a worthy opponent or just someone to slaughter. _

"What started it?"

Silence.

"Michael?"

_It is of no importance. I will try to contain it, Master. I'm sorry. _

"We'll work on it." She replied and she was ashamed at the coldness in her voice.

…

The final string snapped before she could anticipate it. She had been riding on his back, feeling the wind blowing her hair back, the sweet scent of flowers around her as Michael skimmed close to a flower field, knowing that she liked the soft petals. There was a town nearby. She would have a bed to sleep in. She started to calm her mind, breathing in the scent of lilies.

And then the attack came.

It began as a vague dust cloud in the distance. Michael stopped, hovering closer to it. Rose squinted, her hand on her Dragoon Spirit to amplify her senses. Automatically she could see across the distance.

"…A pack of dera. They must have escaped from that town over there." She told her friend. "Come on. Let's go. There's no reason to bother them. The humans will catch them soon enough."

Michael didn't move.

"Michael?" Rose tapped him lightly on his skull. "Come on. Did you hear me? Michael? Are you all right?"

He tossed her into the air before she realized it. One second she was sitting safely on his back and the next second he "reared", sending her flying without her wings.

- No. There's no way he could have thrown me. He never did that before. He would _never_ do that. - Rose 's thoughts were disconcerted and she righted her body in midair so that when she landed, it was heavily but on her feet. The reverberation shook her and she saw him.

But too late did she see him soaring in attack pattern, battle formation.

"No! Don't!"

The Dragon did not heed her words, sweeping up in a large arc, and dove down upon the dera. She saw the skin on his chest stretch open and his ribs rustling to expose the black heart full of energy. No, he was too close to the town. He would kill someone.

"Michael!" She screamed. "No!"

The black energy was like a wave of darkness crashing onto her, through her, into her, so that it pounded at her brain, surrounding her until it was the only thing in her universe. No light. Where was the light? She watched it descend, skimming the edge of the town. Screams. Rose stood. Some part of her was telling her to run before she was caught in the recoil but she couldn't. Not that her body would obey her, but she _couldn't_ leave Michael like this. She _couldn't!_

The howls of pain from the dera creatures. Her brain flashed. The howls of pain from the Virage as Michael fired the black laser, dissipating their molecules until they no longer existed. But was that a brave Dragon warrior fighting or simple bloodlust taking over?

The screams of the humans. Again another flash. The screams of the Winglies as Michael used his force to crush them against the buildings, or his jagged claws and teeth to rip their veins and watch the blood spurting out. The smell of blood always excited some side of him.

Michael had always loved fighting. Perhaps even more than Kanzas's Violet Dragon. Rose's mind kept showing her that picture as Michael thrust his head _through_ the Virage and savoring the feeling. She shut her eyes silently and she could feel a deep sinking of what was left of her heart.

Michael…

The black energy spread out, the invisible recoil spreading out over its blast radius. And she stood directly in the path.

She didn't even care when she blacked out.


	3. Humans

**Chapter Three: Humans…Again?**

-Why does my head hurt so much? - She thought, shifting slightly.

"Hey, I think she's waking up."

A voice? She must be hallucinating. She was out in the fields, wasn't she? But she was lying on something too soft, like a mattress. And the voice was a young woman's, concerned and anxious, and she seemed to be repeating something.

Rose finally opened her eyes, her pupils adjusting to the light of the two lamps above her. She stayed perfectly still, scanning the room. No magical presence, and no sign of Michael either aside from his mind residue. The room was small, with wooden walls and two windows. The one of the left was large enough for her to leap out of if circumstances called for it. But the girl sitting on the bed next to her didn't seem to be threatening. But she had learned from experience that it was often the most gentle that was the most threatening.

Rose sat up, giving the younger girl a cool stare. Her mind was already calculating what to do, where to run. "Where am I? Who are you?" She let her hand drift to her hip, only to find that her sword wasn't there. "Where is my sword?"

"Take it easy. You passed out. We—"

"I want my sword back." Rose moved in one fluid motion to stand on the bed and leaped over the other girl. Landing on her feet, she ran over to the drawer and picked up the belt, strapping it low on her hips, and drawing her sword. The tip pointed to the other girl's throat. "Who are you? How did I get here?"

"Kata!" Another voice, a man's, and she turned instinctively. Another blade met hers and she went into battle mode. Automatic questions and answers filled her head.

_What fighting style is he using? What is he doing now? Where would I block? What is the best way to disarm him? Can I subdue him? How powerful is he? Where to strike? _She was a born predator, a natural warrior, and in two seconds she had the sword knocked out of his hands and the boy on the ground with the edge of her blade lying against the brown skin of his throat.

"What the!" Another person, another attacker. Her mind was in animal mode, skittish and ready to defend herself. This one was unarmed. She jumped up, tucking her knees to the side, and his kick aimed at her knees missed. She landed, struck out with her right heel, knocking him against the wall and pinning him there with the sole of her boot.

"Who are you people? Why am I here? Where am I?" Her voice was hard as titanium, light as an icy wind.

"Leave them alone! We helped you! Why are you hurting us?" The girl shrieked.

Rose observed all three of them, and scanned them. There was no visible deception in their minds or expressions, and they _had_ dragged her out of the field. "If I let the both of you go," she began. "You won't hurt me. You will stand perfectly still and with your hands where I can see them."

The man with her boot planted heavily in his chest nodded. "Yes. If you would take your sword away from my brother's throat, he'd say so too."

She still didn't trust them. "Get that sword over there." She said to the girl. "And place it on the far side of the room. Please." She added the last word as a polite habit.

When the younger woman did so, Rose put her foot back on the ground and took her sword away, skipping back several paces near the open window. She could jump out easily, before the men could get a weapon. She didn't want to shed blood so the best way was to run.

"I'll ask again. Who are you? Why am I here?"

The man who she had nearly beheaded stood up and faced her. "My name is Darius. This is my brother, Kristoff, and our sister, Kata. We run this farm together. We won't hurt you, and we are terribly sorry if we frightened you. We found you outside of town, in the fields, and you were unconscious. We brought you back here. You were asleep for a few hours before you woke up."

Rose considered his words. It seemed plausible, and there was no lying tone in his voice, only a gentle soothing, as if he was speaking to a frightened animal. Which wasn't too far from the truth. Rose wasn't exactly human.

Finally she said, "Hello." and sheathed her sword. "You have my apologies for harming you."

"I understand why you would." The same man spoke again, Darius. "Did you see the Dragon, lady…?"

For a moment she thought he was calling her 'lady' or 'woman' the way that Torrin and countless others had, a dismissive term. But she saw the polite patience on his face as he waited for her name. This one was different from the others, and his sweet trust and polite manners reminded her a bit of Zieg. "Rose." She said, clearing her throat. "My name is Rose."

Darius bowed. "Lady Rose."

The title almost made her laugh. It was so formal, so polite. No one had ever treated her with respect since that time she posed as a countess's long-lost daughter in order to get close to the Moon Child. Instead she merely stared at him. His nose looked like it had been broken a few times. He was slightly taller than she was, with fair hair and amber eyes. She decided he wasn't much of a threat; after all, she had disarmed him easily.

"Yes. I saw the Dragon. I was caught in the recoil of his psychic attack." And then Michael was the priority again. "Where is the Dragon? What happened?"

The girl, Kata, replied, the fear gone from her eyes. Contrasting her seemingly innocent disposition and her brother's blondness, her appearance was dark, with black hair, slightly tanned skin, and deep-set black eyes. "The Dragon attacked. We don't know why. But the outskirts of the village are scorched and so is part of our farm. It disappeared, and our hunters are out looking for it."

"They'll never find it. You saw the speed with which it flew off." Kristoff remarked. "It's amazing."

"Yes." Rose murmured softly. "It really is."

Darius was looking at her. "Lady Rose, you are not from around here. Where did you come from?"

She shrugged. "Here and there."

"Do you have a place to stay?"

She shrugged again.

"Then it would be best if you stayed here with us. We have a couple of extra rooms since our parents passed away. I'm sure that my brother wouldn't mind and my sister would like having someone to talk to."

She saw the surprise in Kata and Kristoff's eyes as they glanced at their brother but Darius stood firm, politely waiting for her response.

"How much?" She asked cautiously.

He shook his head, surprised at her words. "It is an offer of generosity, Lady Rose. You needn't pay us any Gold."

Rose was wary of his kindness but decided that if he wanted money at the end, she could always bring up this point again. "Then you have my gratitude. I accept your offer. Though I must warn you, I don't talk much. …_Lady_ Kata will not find me a good conversationalist."

Darius laughed, and she was oddly reminded of Zieg. The thought unnerved her. Quickly, she asked, "Has anyone seen the Dragon since?"

"No. Why do you ask?" Kristoff narrowed wood-colored eyes at her.

Rose hesitated.

One part of her mind was speaking. –No, don't tell them anything. They won't understand. They won't believe you-

Another part was saying. –But they saved your life. Possibly. If you were unconscious without Michael to guard you, you might have been hurt by one of the monsters, or a thief could have stolen your Dragoon Spirit. Maybe some pervert could have raped you. It is a strong possibility that they saved you.-

-They're _Humans!_-

-They haven't done anything hostile to you, in fact, the Darius one seems to be very polite. They've offered you a place to stay. And if they do betray you, then you can always resort to mind-blanking.-

A new voice said logically, -That won't work. It'll be too long to blank. The only thing you'll be able to do is to kill them, and you hate bloodshed. The easiest way is to tell them that you are simply interested in Dragons, a scholar of some sort.- The voices debated in her head.

And yet still another voice finally said, -Screw it.-

"I will tell you," she started slowly, her lithe body started to relax. "But you will not believe me."

"Just tell us."

"I am a Dragoon."

Kata frowned. "A Dragoon warrior? Weren't they one of the Humans that bonded with the Dragons so they could fight in the Dragon Campaign?"

Rose nodded at her. "Impressive. You know more about your history than many other humans I have met. You are correct. I am one of the original warriors."

"That would make you nearly ten thousand years old."

"Correct again."

Darius was politely trying to find a way to say that he didn't believe her, but Kristoff beat him to it. "I don't believe it. Any idiot could say so, but do you have any proof?"

Rose reached inside her cloth armor and pulled out her Dragoon Spirit. Calling on the power, she transformed.

Or rather she tried to.

The power outlet that she usually called on was blocked. It was normally that she reached out and found the outlet easily, since it was her connection to Michael. She latched onto it and drew her power from it, allowing her to transform into Dragoon.

But now…the connection was blocked. It was like she reached out and found herself running into a wall, impenetrable and confusing. It had never happened before.

-I can't- She realized. –I can't transform. Michael must have gone insane or something. But I can no longer draw upon his power.-

Kristoff stood with his arms crossed over his broad chest. "Well? Are you just going to hold onto that necklace or are you going to show us?"

"I cannot transform. He must not be letting me use his power." Rose said simply, tucking the Dragoon Spirit back into her tunic, knowing how lame her excuse sounded.

"Then how do we know that you are really a Dragoon?"

"I defeated you as easily as any of the other Dragoons could. Furthermore, how else would I know everything about the Dragon? His name is Michael and he is the best Dragon, having the best speed, agility, and attack, as well as a strong defense. He is the Darkness Dragon and he was born as his mother died." –I knew I shouldn't have told them. Humans always deny anything new because they can't stand not being in charge of everything.-

"We don't know if you're making it up." Kata said uneasily.

Rose growled softly in her mind. "It doesn't matter whether or not you believe me. The fact of whether or not I am the original Dragoon is unimportant. What matters is Michael. I have to find him and calm him down. That is all you need to know."

Kristoff started to open his mouth to protest her reasoning again but Darius cut him off with a dismissive gesture of his hand. "Enough. Kata, Kristoff, as Lady Rose said, the fact of her past is unimportant. Kristoff, go check on the hunters and see if they had any luck finding the Dragon… Michael. Kata, start cooking dinner. Lady Rose, if you would follow me, I'll show you where you will be sleeping."

Rose followed him silently until he slowed his pace to walk alongside her. He didn't say anything, just stared at her for a long time. She made a face. "What is it? You think I am some crazy nutcase?"

Darius shook his head. "Actually, I believe you."

That made her pause in her steps. "Do you?" there was no relief or gratitude in her voice, only a weary annoyance, like a cat that has been pet too many times.

"It does seem a bit farfetched, but I believe you. You seem like a decent person and you don't look like you would lie."

Rose made a derisive sound and gestured to her sword. "With this, I don't have to lie. But I am not a decent person, Darius. Do not make the mistake of trusting me. As a repayment of allowing me to rest here, I will help you to hunt. It seems that you will need my help."

He thought about her words and opened a door. "This is your room. If you don't like it, there's another one."

She looked around. Rather large, with a nice clear space in the front so that she could practice. A large window big enough for her to leap out of easily, sturdy walls, and a cabinet next to the bed.

"This room is fine. Thank you." Rose nodded, turning to face him. He was so strange, as if he actually cared about what she thought. This must have been the first time she interacted with anyone other than Michael in at least a thousand years and it didn't seem like she would have to kill any of them. Even if they knew she was a Dragoon, it did not matter. But if they ever found out she was the Black Monster…then etiquette or not, she would kill all of them. "It is satisfactory for my tastes. I have been in worse places." She stepped into the room.

She stumbled, the flash of thought cutting across her mind, intruding her thoughts. Michael's thoughts were so…different. Violent, in turmoil, fierce. Like he was broadcasting his pain for everyone to hear. He was screaming, in pain. She absorbed his pain, trying to calm it. But his mind was detached from her now. She couldn't feel him anymore. She doubted that she could communicate with him. What happened to him? What made him like this? Why did he go out of control? So many questions flooded her mind, unanswered.

"Are you all right?" Darius asked quietly. She brought her mind back from the void into her own physical body to find that he was supporting her with her shoulder slung over his neck. "Is there something in the room?"

"No. Just a dizzy spell, is all." She replied, taking her arm away and sat on the bed. "I'm fine."

"I don't believe you."

"Fine, then don't."

He stared at her for a moment before snapping, "Why are you like this?"

She was surprised at his forthright and unusual question. "What? Like what?"

"Like _this_! So cold and distant." His voice had risen slightly and his blood was racing faster. He actually was feeling whatever the hell he was expressing now.

"I am the cat," She murmured to herself.

But he had sharp ears. "That hunts by herself." He finished the famous Serdian quote. "What happened? Why are you so reserved?"

Rose glared at him. "We have met not an hour ago, _Lord_ Darius." She tossed in the title sarcastically. "We are not on a friendly enough basis for me to share such information with you."

"All right." To her annoyance, he sat down next to her. "I'm your friend. Now we are on a friendly basis. To prove it, I will tell you something personal. My father died from drinking and my mother drowned when a water monster kept her underneath the surface too long. Your turn."

She pushed herself off the bed and leapt to the door, and turned to face him. "You are a very annoying Human being." She snarled at him.

He gave her an irritating grin and his eyes sparkled. "I know. Kata and my brother tell me that all the time. Well?"

"I will not answer your question. Either come with me to hunt and keep your mouth shut or don't come along. I'll bring back meat with or without you." Rose told him coldly. "I am leaving now. Whether or not you follow is not my concern."

"Wait." He grabbed her arm to stop her and she tensed automatically. No one was allowed to touch her, _no one_! Not since Zieg. She had sworn to herself that no man would touch her until she could forget Zieg and she knew that would never happen. She quickly considered the consequences if she cut off his arm now, and decided against it.

"Wait." He said again, trying to turn her to face him. Surprised at the strength that it took, he instead walked around to face her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry. It was none of my business."

"You're right. It's not."

A look crossed his face, and he smiled. "You're different from the others, did anyone ever tell you that?"

She shrugged. "You coming or not?"


	4. Rose

**Chapter Four: Rose**

He usually went hunting in a little forest a couple of miles to the west of their farm, which ended up being very nice, if she overlooked the small plot of corn that was scorched black by Michael's attack.

Darius used a bow for hunting and was surprised when she didn't. "How are you supposed to get close enough to get them?"

Instead of answering him in words, she showed him. The six-legged deer-like creature was sniffing at a tree. Rose moved quickly and silently, her footsteps making no sound on the forest floor. It didn't notice her until she was directly in front of it, and by then it was too late. She wrapped her arms and legs into its side, knocking it over and holding it tightly on her stomach until it stopped struggling, all its energy drained. Mercifully she severed its head before it had the time to die from the lack of oxygen to its brain.

She stood to see Darius staring at her. "I've never seen anyone move that fast."

She shrugged, and stayed up in a tree, her long legs dangling, as she watched him hunt. He was faster than most humans, although no match for her, and powerful. Merciful, strong, quick, he was a good hunter.

Not good enough however. He didn't see the bear behind him, too busy with the death throes of a hunting beast.

"Watch out." She called, her tone casual. He turned, raised his bow, too late.

Rose shook her head slightly. -Is this the limitation of Humans?-

She slid out of her tree, running swiftly and leaping. If anyone else had seen they would have thought she was a bird in flight, gliding gracefully through the air. She landed on its back, her legs wrapped around its neck. Twisting her powerful legs, she heard the crack of bone and the thud as the body fell.

Darius lowered his bow, and he seemed to quiver. He knew that he would never have been able to do that, and the bear would have likely lamed him before he would kill it. "What…you… Good gods, I wish that Kristoff were here to see that. He would have no doubt that you are a Dragoon warrior."

-True. No Human could do that.- Unconsciously, she brushed her fingers against the spot in her armor beneath which the necklace was hidden.

"May I?" Darius asked, and his tone was so polite it was impossible for her to refuse. Automatically she nodded.

He moved forward, his fingers on her neck. Strangely enough, she relaxed. She wasn't coiled up, ready to defend should he tighten his fingers. Instead she stood lax and slightly swaying as he picked up the necklace. He didn't put his hand down her tunic, of course, because then she _would_ have perfect reason to hurt him. No, he tugged on the chain encircling her neck and slowly drew it up until the necklace fell to the outside of her armor and he picked it up.

"It's beautiful." He commented, staring at the pendant. Its deep violet color reflected and emanated light, as well as gathering it, to form an entire galaxy of stars inside the pendant. It thrummed with power, enhancing her aura, no matter if it was joyous or furious. His eyes traveled upward to the choker clasped around her pale throat. The choker was just as wonderful a work of art. A pure deep black, inscriptions and runes were etched deeply into it, along with designs and carvings that caught the eye and wouldn't let it go. She had to fight off thieves more than a few times. "Who made this?"

"The choker or the pendant?" She asked absently. He wasn't at all like those other men that she had come across along her journeys, with the grabby hands and wicked leers. Darius was different and his fair hair reminded her of Zieg. If she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine that it was Zieg standing not three inches from her.

But it wasn't. And she could never forget that or her fiancé's face as it froze in a look of eternal torment.

"Both." Darius replied, dropping the necklace and stepping back, as if suddenly realizing he was invading her privacy. "I'm sorry, Lady Rose."

Rose tucked the necklace back into her tunic. "The pendant was fashioned by Michael the Dragon. When we bonded, our minds and psychic energies drew together to form my Dragoon Spirit. I can use it to call upon his powers in my times of need. So in a way, I formed it and so did my Dragon."

"Who fashioned the choker?"

"Not who. _What,_" She corrected him. Her mind was relaxed, and she felt like sitting down and explaining to him about everything. Darius had that effect on her. No, maybe he had that effect on all people. His siblings always obeyed him with never more than the slightest hint of doubt. But her body was already used to working, not talking, and she was moving to pick up the beasts that she had killed. "Spirit formed it."

"Spirit? Is that a person?"

Rose paused, her heavy bear slung over her shoulder. It made a comical sight. She peered at Darius around a thick pelt of fur. "Well…" she pursed her lips, considering his question. "Yes and no. Spirit is around us everywhere and in us as well. It is what makes living things _be_. So yes, it is people, but no, it is not a particular person. Spirit is essence."

"Like life."

"Yes. Exactly. My friend Charle Frahma gathered the Spirit around her to form the necklace." Rose was telling him secrets now. She was already certain he had to die, so why not let him die knowing everything, since he was so curious? But a small part of her felt remorse even now that she would have to kill him. "She asked for Spirit from the trees and the rocks, from her friends and herself, from the air and from me. With the Spirit she gathered she formed the choker, and it is full of magical energy. It's what keeps me alive. Otherwise I would be a pile of decomposed bones by now." She tilted her head. "Now come on. Your sister is waiting."

Darius shook himself slightly and picked up the hunting beast he had felled. This woman was so different, so vivid. He wasn't sure if he believed her or not, but she was so intense, so _alive_. Her aura brought a new feeling to him, and he had to smile.

She noticed him even as her head was turned. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." He replied casually. "By the way, your hair's getting soaked in blood."

"It'll come out." The words were so easy, meaningless, and yet her voice hitched slightly, as if she knew that she was lying.

And he knew as well. Time to switch tactics if he was ever going to figure out this confusing enigma of a woman. "Lady Rose, my foot hurts. I think I may have a rock in my boot. Can we stop for a while?"

She paused, and he could feel her frustration roll off her in a sigh. "Fine. It's not like we've anything else to do. And for the gods' sakes, stop calling me Lady Rose!" She snapped, shoving the bear and the deer off her shoulders to the ground, where they landed with a heavy thud. The woman herself flounced over to sit on a patch of moss on the log next to him.

"What name would you prefer?"

Her mind lurched slightly. Michael had asked her the same thing.

_"Michael, I told you. I'm not your master. I'm your friend. We help each other. I'm a Dragoon. You're my Dragon partner. Stop calling me master!"_

Despite telling him multiple times, he always insisted on calling her Master.

"Just call me Rose. It's my name." She said.

"Was Rose the name you were born with?"

She glared at him, her smoke-colored eyes flaring into fire. "You must be the nosiest person I have ever met!" She growled. "Yes."

"Do you like your name?"

She raised an eyebrow, her fiery eyes cooling down back into smoke. "What is the purpose of this question?"

"To get to know you better."

"If you want to know me better, you'd have to learn all ten thousand years of my life and more."

Darius shrugged. "I like learning about history. Just answer me, please. Like, I don't really like my name, but I don't hate it. It fits me."

"I see no difference in whether or not I like my name. It is what I am called."

The man made a movement of his head as if he was frustrated. "It makes a difference to me."

She gave in. It was too tiring to argue. "Then no, I'm not particularly fond of my name. It's far too sweet and beautiful for my tastes. I would have preferred a less noticeable, harsher name of a warrior."

"Rose is a beautiful name for a beautiful woman."

She ignored his charm and stood up again.

"Or you could alter your name a bit." Darius spoke again as if she was not making movements to leave. "For instance, don't tell him I told you this, but Kristoff's name was originally Christopher. He didn't like it, so he changed it a bit. You could change yours."

This time Rose didn't bother to hide her smile. It wasn't necessarily nasty enough to be a scornful smirk, but it was certainly not a smile of sheer joy. "Change it to what? Daisy? Daffodil? Violet? At least roses have _thorns_." She gestured to her sword.

"They certainly do." Darius muttered, following her as she picked up the game again and strode off quickly.

o

-What an irritating man! No one has ever dared to question me so much on my past or personal thoughts like he does!- Rose thought to herself, storming down the path across the farm's fields and into the house. –Why is he so damn nosy? I can take perfect care of myself, if that's what he's afraid of.- She paused. –And yet, without Michael, I _could_ use a bit of caring. It's nice to know that someone worries about me.-

She paused in the enormous kitchen's doorway. Kata was in there, standing over the stove, making strange noises. It sounded like she was singing, but her lips weren't moving and the song was slow and lulling. She stopped when she saw Rose.

"Oh you're back already." She seemed surprised and helped lift the deer off Rose's left shoulder. "Darius usually isn't so quick. You must be one great hunter." When Rose still didn't answer, Kata continued speaking. "Did you hear me humming? It's a lullaby that my mother used to sing to me. Did your mother ever sing it to you?"

Rose twisted her head slightly to look at Kata, her eyes hazy and confused. "A lullaby? No, my mother…didn't sing lullabies to me." –Did she?-

"She didn't?" Kata stopped and turned to look at her, incredulous. "She must have!"

The Dragoon woman frowned. "I'm not sure…she might have. It was a long time ago."

"Ten thousand years."

"Yes. My nanny might have. I'm not sure if my mother did."

"Your nanny?"

"Yes. I was a born a daughter to a rich couple. I was…rather different back then. After meeting…someone, I…changed drastically." Rose shook herself. –What does any of this have to do with anything?- "Anyway, do you require my help? Or else I am going back to my room."

"No. I can handle it." Kata spoke easily, skinning and cleaning the bear with expert fingers. After a while, she asked, "Are you really a Dragoon?"

"I am what you think I am. I can't change your point of view." Rose answered.

"She means, yes, she is." Darius' voice came from the doorway where his lithe frame filled the doorway. He dumped the heap he was carrying onto the floor and kicked it over to his sister. "I saw her hunt, Kata. She's the real thing. No Human could move that fast or be that powerful."

"What took you so long?" Rose snapped, not wanting a discussion about her Dragoon powers or to stay around these humans any longer than she needed to. It was a lesson she had learned over the years. When you are around people too long, you grow attached to them, and it makes it harder to say goodbye. In one of her earlier journeys, she had become a good friend with the mother of the Moon Child she was to kill. She couldn't bring down the Black Monster power. Michael had had to set her off before she would do it.

"Wow, we'll have a good dinner tonight. Rose, don't mind him. Darius is always slow." Kata quipped affectionately.

"Ha ha, Kata. Actually, I had to do something before coming back." Darius smiled dazzlingly at Rose, as if sharing some inside joke, but she didn't understand, tilting her head. His smile only brightened and she turned her head.

"If there is nothing else you want me to do, then I'll be returning to my room." Rose told them both darkly, leaving the room. –I've better things to do than stand around and watch two humans treat each other with compassion instead of hate. If I do that, I'll get too attached.-

"L—Rose, are Dragoons allergic?" Darius asked.

Rose stopped, turning to look at him with narrowed eyes. "Why?"

"Just curiosity. If they're so strong and healthy, they didn't have allergies, right?"

_Zieg was allergic to dust._ "Some of them did. I didn't."

"Oh. That's interesting. Well, have a nice nap. I'll wake up you at dinnertime."

Ignoring him, she turned and kept walking, jumping to the side to avoid walking into Kristoff. "Sorry." She muttered and continued down the corridors.

"Wow, what an ice maiden. She's got her own Mille Sesean wind around her." Kata commented.

o

Rose already had her sword drawn before she got into her room. Not only because she wanted to practice her left upper blocks, which were her weak spots, but because something was different. Not quite wrong, but different.

She pushed open the door to the room she was assigned and stepped inside, scanning the room with trained eyes that already adjusted to the dim twilight.

Nearly a hundred of little living things were hanging all over her room. Unmoving, except for slightly swaying in the wind. Though great in number, they held no physical threat to her.

Flowers.

Roses, to be more precise.

Rose sheathed her sword, and walked around the room, careful not to step on the white and pink flowers that were strewn all over the floor as she crossed over to the lamp. She brushed aside a red blossom before lighting one of the lamps. The _entire room_ was covered in flowers. All over the bed, on the floor, on the drawers, _in_ the drawers, weaving across the windows, on the lamps, on the polished wooden desk, all over. They varied in colors: white, red, peach, pink, beige, yellow, and they were all roses. It was impossible, improbable, and completely, _completely_ unexpected.

She pushed several of the roses aside with her foot and swept them off the bed with her arm, clearing a space for her to sit and think.

"You like?" Darius appeared out of the air, picked up one lush red rose, and tossed it at her. She caught it with a warrior's reflexes.

"You did this?" She asked him, too shocked to yell at him.

"Yeah. You told me you didn't like your name, so I figured, if I surrounded you with roses, you might get to like them." Darius smiled, and it was so disarming she nearly smiled back. He was giddy, shifting from foot to foot, obviously eager to hear what she thought. "But Kata's going to _kill_ me when she sees what I've done to her garden."

This time she didn't hold it back. Rose did the unexpected. She tossed her head back, her ebony hair spilling over her shoulders, opened her mouth, and laughed.

Not a fake girlish giggle, or a bad-joke chuckle, but a brilliant laugh brought straight from her heart. She hadn't laughed like this since Michael first showed the signs of bloodlust again. She laughed until she needed to take a breath and lowered her head, her lips still curved up in a smile.

Darius stared at her, open-mouthed. "I didn't expect that."

"If you didn't expect it, then why did you do it?"

"Well, I did it because I thought it would make you happy. I didn't think I would make you happy enough that you would smile." Darius grinned, and she found herself smiling back. "I'm glad I proved you're not impenetrable."

Rose lifted an eyebrow at his choice of words.

"Unreachable." He quickly corrected himself. "Sorry. I didn't mean what it sounded like. I didn't. I…um…dinner should be ready in about an hour. Sorry. Bye." He ducked out of the room and shut the door before she could laugh again.

She turned onto her stomach on the bed, reaching over and picking up a peach rose and inhaling its fragrance. Sweet, sweet Darius. In the space of not even a day, he had managed to break down all her barriers and make her feel like a normal human. He was so annoying when he pried into her past, sure, but he was so kind, so amusing, so sweet. She never felt this happy around anyone but Michael, and Zieg when he was still alive.

She sighed, turning onto her back. Zieg was like Darius in how they treated her with kindness and laughter, but they were very different. Zieg was…tender, sensitive. Darius was funny, sweet. Zieg annoyed her when he was so into his work and fighting, leaving her behind. Darius annoyed her with his nosy prying. Zieg unlocked a part of her heart that was caring and in love. Darius unlocked a part of her that was glad to be happy and laughing again, and he also…and…

_Oh gods, what else?_

-Dear Miraroshi, goddess of kindness, what have I done?- Rose sat up, horrified. "No!" She hissed out loud. –I can't be! I still love Zieg, gone though he may be from me. No, I'm just getting confused because Darius made me laugh. I don't love him…I don't.-

She tossed the red rose to join the rest of its comrades, and curled herself into a tight ball. –I wish Michael was here. He'd know what to do.-


	5. How Could You?

**Chapter Five: How Could You?**

When she awoke, someone was in the room.

Automatically her hand went to the sword that was never far from her side and drew it. She almost thrust it forward before he yelled, "Wait! I'm not here to hurt you!"

Rose swore, a nasty curse not meant for ladies, and put the heavy sword back into its scabbard, sitting up. "Darius, you _never_ sneak up on me, especially at night!" She growled. "I could have killed you!" –I'll have to later, but I want to keep people alive for as long as I can.-

"I…I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you." He was back to his polite self again. "I…I brought you your dinner."

"I slept through dinner? Didn't you say that you would wake me?" She didn't move, eyeing the food platter he held in his hands.

"I was going to. But you only slept for a little while, and I didn't want to disturb you. I…I was just going to leave the platter here for when you woke up." He explained, holding it out like a peace offering.

She took it, sniffed it surreptitiously, and decided there was no poison. It didn't matter; her liver would automatically take away any poison she consumed anyway. She had learned this before, after several times.

"Do you want to talk?" Darius asked, sitting down next to her.

She was surprised yet again at his sudden mood changes and by his actions. He went from nervous and apologetic straight into his gentle nosiness again. And an unmarried man was never supposed to sit down next to an unmarried woman in her bed unless they were betrothed to each other. She got up quickly. "No. I don't feel like talking. What have we to talk about?"

"I want to know everything. About your past. About yourself. About the Dragons and Dragoons." His bluntness was flat this time.

"Why? It is meaningless to you." –Even if I tell you, I'll have to kill you.- She paced over to the window, her movements dark and jerky, as if she was holding back incredible energy.

"I just want to know. Call it curiosity if you want to. It doesn't matter to me. I just want to know."

Rose pivoted on the heel of her right foot, turning to glare at him. She opened her mouth—

And stopped.

Because he wasn't curious at all. Not in the sense of a scholar wanting to know more about a certain history lesson, or a male taking an interest in a lady. She shut her mouth, seeing the sadness in his eyes.

-What the?-

His eyes weren't malicious or prodding or annoyingly curious. Instead his eyes were filled the infinite sadness that reflected her heart. "Will you tell me?"

She sat down next to him, silently, staring at the rose flowers on the floor. They had not begun to wilt yet, but they would soon. Life was like that. Birth, bloom, death. It was unfortunate, but it was inevitable. These flowers would die soon, and so would humans. Everything was liked in the great wheel of life that bound them to mortality.

She was snapped out of her daze when Darius put an arm around her slim shoulders. She stiffened automatically. "What are you doing?" she hissed, pulling away and glaring at him. The sadness was still in his eyes.

"I'm trying to show you how wrong you are." He told her. "You do need love."

Her upper lip lifted slightly. "I need not learn it from you. I am—was—engaged." –To a dead man- her mind added silently. –Zieg…-

"I…" Darius turned his hands palms upward in a sign of innocence, but he seemed flustered. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. But…I want to know. More about you. Will you tell me?" he repeated, so innocent, so childish, so that she forgot her temporary hate for him.

"Yes." The word came out naturally, her tone simple, as if it was the most normal thing in the world to tell a human about her past. "Come with me to the garden."

Wordlessly he rose and walked beside her, out of the house and onto the porch in front, by the garden. She noted with some amusement that the rosebushes looked rather worse for the wear. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

"I can't possibly tell you everything." She chided almost gently. "Narrow it down and I'll try to do my best."

"All right, let's start with your childhood. Kata told me a bit about it, but not much."

Rose cupped her chin in her gloved hands. "I was the daughter of a rich couple. They didn't really have a lot of time for me, and I was left with a nanny. I hated the hell out of her. I was a spoiled little brat, always wanting my wishes done immediately. But all that changed when I met him."

"Who?"

"Zieg."

"He was…your fiancé?" Darius asked quietly.

"He was my _life_." She corrected fiercely. "I loved him. The Dragon Campaign had just started. My town was attacked, my family killed. At that time, I was…maybe sixteen? I've lost my sense of time. Zieg saved me. And for that moment, we were the only two people in the world. He told me that I had a strong aura, a powerful spirit. He said that I might be able to help. Immediately I agreed. I would follow him to the ends of the world if he wanted me to. My entire personality changed, from selfish and spoiled to a sort of mild timid woman with an obsession. I became a Dragoon and the psychic link deepened our connection. Our love was eternal, or so I thought."

"What happened?"

Rose took a long deep shuddering breath. –Why am I telling him this?- "He…he fought the leader of the Wingly Army, Melbu Frahma. He managed to kill him, but Melbu Frahma transformed him to stone with his last power. Zieg was torn from me forever." She took another deep breath. "Michael was all I had left. We continued our journey together. At first it was a journey to heal ourselves from the deaths of our friends, but then…it became something more. We had an obligation now. We had to—" She cut off her flow of words.

-Gods above I was about to tell him about the Black Monster!-

"Had to what?"

"Nothing." She snapped flatly. "It's none of your business and you wouldn't understand."

"What? What happened to telling me the truth?"

"I never promised that I was going to tell you the truth!" Rose growled. "You simple-minded humans and your stupid prejudice. You'll never understand! None of you can understand!" Her voice rose to a shriek and caused a candle to light in the hallway.

"What's going on?" Kata asked sleepily, holding the candle, which shone its light on the face of Kristoff, who was not far behind her, eyes narrowed. While Darius was open and sincere with her, his brother was the opposite, always watching her out of wary eyes.

"Nothing." Rose answered them honestly, standing up and tossing her head. "Nothing at all."

Pushing past a sleep-ruffled Kata and a surprised Kristoff. "Good night."

"Darius, what happened?" Kristoff demanded. "I thought that you agreed to leave her alone."

"I did!" Darius protested halfheartedly, still sitting on the steps. "Or at least, I didn't mean to pry. But she just looked so…alone. Like a little girl."

"Brother, she is anything but a little girl. She is a lioness ready to attack."

"Darius, listen to him." Kata pleaded. "We both have a really bad feeling about her. She knows more about the Dragon than anyone is supposed to, and she's a powerful warrior. She doesn't have much of a past and she's too mysterious."

"Not to mention all that crap about her being some Dragoon or other." Kristoff commented easily, running one bronze hand through wood-colored hair that matched his eyes. "I say she's psychotic. It's impossible for her to be one of the Dragoons. I doubt they even existed."

"They did exist." Kata informed them. "But if the lady is speaking the truth and she is one of them, then what has happened to her? From what I read, the Dragoons were supposed to be heroes. But she seems…"

"Bitchy." Kristoff finished for his petite sister. "I still say that we should take her to see the doctor in town. Maybe she got a head wound when she passed out in the fields."

"We're not taking her to see Dr. Eno." Darius hissed through his teeth. "Her head is perfectly fine, and with the two of you talking about her like that, no wonder she's cold and reserved."

"I don't understand why you're being so nice to her, Brother. She's done nothing for us, and likely she'll do nothing, except bring trouble. The story of hers about the Dragon. It hasn't been sighted today, but it will return sometime and gods know what she'll do."

"We'll deal with that when the time comes. Lady Rose is staying here." Darius's tone was firm and unbendable.

Kata shook her head sadly. "A fool in love has clouded judgment. Fine, Dar, but don't say we didn't warn you." Then she looked out over the garden. "_What in the gods' names did you do to my roses?_"

-Zieg, what should I do?- Rose lay restlessly on the bed, striking her fist against the mattress in hopes of letting go of some anger. –I don't want to be unfaithful to you. With the gods as my witness, I love you, my darling. But Darius…he…I don't know what to do, my love. You always told me to follow my heart. My nonexistent heart now says to tell him the truth. Maybe he'll be able to help. But…my conscience or my soul or whatever the hell it is that's supposed to keep me from doing bad things, not that it works, tells me not to. I'm going to kill him anyway, right? Why not let him know the whole truth? Gods, Zieg, I'm so confused. I wish you were here. You'd take care of me, right?-

"Mmf." She mumbled into her pillow and she turned her face into it. "Stupid destiny. Why drop everything onto my shoulders?" She paused for a moment and then yelled, "By the Moon and the nine hells, why do _I_ have the make the difference?" The cloth of the pillow muffled her voice, and her question too. Were there even any gods out there? If there were, they were cruel bastards who liked to watch her squirm as she tried to carry out the Fate that they had planned for her. Stupid Soa, with his/her little prophecy. Stupid Charle Frahma, who gave this "job" to her. Stupid Moon Child, whom she had to kill every 108 years. _Damn_ stupid conscience, for making her care.

To take her mind of things, she tried meditation, but that didn't work either, not without the comforting aura of Michael around her. Damn it, he was like her wall of protection.

-Michael, where ARE you?- she demanded with her mind, stretching out and broadcasting her thoughts. –And why the hell are you doing what you're doing? I thought we got over this bloodlust! At least come back to me so that I can help you!-

No answer. Of course. Why would the gods be so kind to her?

Still furious, she finally managed to convince her body to go to sleep.

"Good morning." Kata called out to her as she entered the dining room, as if she was a welcome guest that had been a part of their family for a while now. "Good sleep?"

-Not really.- "Fine." She lied. She was used to it by now.

The other girl eyed her carefully. "You don't need a change of clothes?"

"My armor doesn't dirty. I don't need to change." Soa knows those stupid dresses only make her feel weak and delicate. "Do we need to go hunting again today?"

"No, not today. That bear you brought back will keep us full for another day or so." Kristoff replied. "Which brings me up to the topic of the day. The Dragon was sighted last night, circling the nearby town. It attacked, but the laser missed."

Rose froze in her motions, then half-rose from her chair. "Where is Michael now? I have to find him, talk to him, calm him down somehow."

"Lady Rose." Darius put a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back into her seat. "Your friend was seen late at night, when the Moon was the brightest. He'll be back."

Rose clenched her hands into fists. "Fine. Anything I can help with?"

"No." Kata answered quickly, before her brother could intercede. With her right hand, she toyed with a necklace that was fastened to her throat, a pendant in the shape of two crescent moons. "We're harvesting most of the crops in. The Dragon might attack again. Last time he took out half our cornfield. We can do it by ourselves. You just rest up or whatever it is you Dragoons do in your free time."

-She mocks me.- Rose thought darkly. –Human-

Darius obviously caught the train of thought she was projecting, because the hand on her shoulder tightened a bit and he looked down at her with knowing eyes. She made a face and turned back to her breakfast. –You Humans will never understand. How could you? Raised in the prejudice that you claim had ended with the war I fought in. But though you mock me, I shall regret having to kill you. Especially you, Darius.-

She sat on the front step of the porch, a bored look plastered onto her face as she watched the three siblings tug on ears of corn and place them in baskets.

-If I helped, things would go twice as fast. But I won't help, not until you ask me.- She allowed herself a smile. –Like that'll happen- She wasn't stupid. She knew that Kristoff didn't like her at all and Kata distrusted her. Darius was the only one who understood. Maybe she could not kill him. Maybe somehow she could spare his life. _Somehow!_

-No, don't think like that. It's thoughts like that which will eventually lead to your downfall.-

Darius walked by and tossed something to her. She caught it without her hand even going near her sword. Trust was easy around him. Another rose, this one pure red. She was surprised Kata let him anywhere near the rest of her rosebushes. –Oh yes, I'm sure your sister just loves it that you give her flowers to a claiming-to-be-a-Dragoon woman who she thinks is a psychotic killer-

He smiled as he watched her turn the rose over in her small pale hands. A slow smile spread across her face, lifting her lips, and she laughed slightly. Gods above, she looked like a moon maiden, with that pale skin and dark hair.

"You're getting in over your head." Kristoff murmured. "Sending her flowers now?"

Darius pretended he didn't hear. It wasn't hard, when he looked at her. She was like a portal into another world, one that beckoned with mystery and the unknown.

"Darius! Hey, Darius!" A new voice cried out from beyond the cornfields. "Where are you?"

"Over here!" He called back.

A young man broke through the tall stalks of corn, panting. The blacksmith's son, Tomas, obviously bringing exciting news. "The Dragon's just been sighted again. It's hovering over the forest. Our hunters are getting ready to attack it."

Darius tensed. If Rose heard about this… "Thomas, get out of here, quick. Go tell everyone else." Quick, please leave, before she notices something wrong.

It was too late for that. The raven-haired beauty had already stood up from the porch steps, her eyes narrowed. –Something's wrong.- Straining her ears, she could catch the word Dragon and that was enough. The boy bringing the message disappeared into the cornfield again, running toward the darkened spot that had been scorched lifeless by Michael's attack.

Rose gripped the flower in her left hand and the hilt of her sword in her right, walking quickly down the steps and toward Darius. "What happened?" She demanded, her voice steeled and firm, but to Darius's trained ears, he could hear the underlying fear. "What did that boy say?"

"Nothing, Lady Rose. It was news unimportant to you. One of the ladies in town had a baby daughter, that's all." He quickly assured her. Don't find out I'm lying. I'm doing this for your own health.

Rose's eyes narrowed into fire again, and she would have believed him had she been a normal mortal Human female. "You can't lie to me, Darius. I know something's wrong!" her voice rose again, into audible anger and fear. "Just tell me what happened!"

Pain. Fear. Anger. Bloodlust. Kill. Master? Fear…

She stumbled again, taking a large step back, clutching her head, dropping the rose and her grip on her sword.

"Michael!" She screamed and the connection was gone. "I have to go to him! He's in the forest!"

She started running, but strong arms caught her around the waist, and she kicked to a stop in midair. "Lady Rose, calm down." Darius yelled over her furious shrieks. "Calm down! This isn't healthy for you or anyone. The hunters will take care of Michael."

"They'll kill him!" She kicked out with her strong legs, striking nothing but air. "Put me down! I have to go to him! He's scared and he's frightened and he needs me! Let me go!"

"Gods…" Kata whispered, watching her brother restrain the obviously powerful and frightened woman who was kicking and screaming to get away. How had she known the Dragon would be at the forest, unless she really was one of the Dragoons?

"Let me go!" Rose screamed, kicking backwards and missing. "Darius, put me down, NOW! I have to go to him! He needs me! He's scared and he's hurt!" –I didn't want to do this!- She fell limp suddenly and he stared down at her, incredulous, thinking she had passed out from the rush. But she sprang to life quicker than a snake playing dead, pushing her feet down _into_ the ground, and pushing herself up. In effect, she managed to twist out of his constraining arms and landing on her own two feet behind him. "I have to go to him! I'm sorry, but he needs me."

Stumbling once in her hurry, she righted herself and dashed over toward where his mind signature had suddenly flared to life. Lean swift legs drove her fast as the wind, sword half-drawn and waiting. She didn't want to kill, but if that was what would protect her Michael, well then, she was ready.

The forest was scarcely a forest anymore. It had been caught in Michael's black laser's reverberation, no doubt, because several of the trees had fallen over, and the aura was just wrong.

There! She could see him now! Flying above the forest, scared and frightened and defensive. Below him…hunters, with crossbows and long sharp objects. And catapults. –Damn did they come prepared!- She roared silently, with her mind, startling the minds of all the other living creatures. They paused but didn't stop, loading up the weapons.

"Don't!" She screamed. Barehanded, she snapped a branch off a tree. The branch was twice as thick as her wrist. Strange what adrenaline and passion could do to someone, huh? With her newly made weapon, she knocked several of the men out of the way. "Stop it!"

When everyone's disconcerted attention was on her, she tossed the branch away, crossed her arms over her chest, shut her eyes, and screamed. Physically and mentally.

Her physical scream managed to knock away several of the men with its high pitch and raw emotion, surprising them into a mild shock. Her mental scream stunned Michael into simply floating in the air, staring down at her with eyes that were no longer in bloodlust, but frightened.

Gods, he was frightened! He hadn't been scared while fighting the Virages and Winglies in the Dragon Campaign, but he's scared now, and I'm afraid and I don't know what to do! Rose panicked, her mind in animal mode.

-No. Get a grip, NOW. Because if you don't, you are BOTH going to DIE.- Her common sense, her calm Dragoon mind took over and she took a deep breath, pulling out her necklace and holding it in her hand. This would take a lot of power, to reach him through his frightened state of mind and his bloodlust insanity. But she had to do it.

"What the _hell_ does that _bitch_ think she's doing?" One of the men snarled.

"Leave her. She'll be good bait for the Dragon. When it comes down, we can get it."

Rose shut out their voices and their comments. It wasn't like it was something she never heard before. She focused her entire being and concentration on Michael. She yelled for all her mind was worth

_-MICHAEL!-_

The Dragon's mind was confused at the voice and mind signature, but she had gotten through.

-Listen, Michael, Darkness Dragon, it's me, Rose. I'm your partner, your master, your Dragoon, your counterpart, your friend. Listen to me. Stop this right now. Stop it. I'm not ordering you as a master, I'm pleading with you as a friend. Stop it, please?-

Like a child taking its first steps he responded. _Master?_ His thought wavered, like a leaf in a tornado. _Master, help?_

-Yes, I'm here to help. Don't come down here, Michael. Don't stay down here. These men will destroy you. Calm down. I'm here for you. I always have, and I always will be. Listen to me. Calm down.- Her mind was calmer now, relieved. She had gotten through! –I'm going to send you some thoughts.

The way a sun releases light, she emanated her feelings. Her joy when he dipped down to the earth and soared back up as she sat on his back, their "laughter" when they had both gotten nervous over a little rabbit, her warmth as she "spoke" with him and he sheltered her from the night wind.

"Okay?" She was unaware that she said it out loud. –"Come on down here. We'll fly away together. I'll help you, and things can go back to the way they were"- On a private thought to herself, a little part thought. –What about Darius?- But he didn't matter as much as Michael.

The Darkness Dragon made a couple more passes overhead and fluttered nimbly down beside her. She started to climb onto his back when he roared in pain and reared, and she went flying again. Dazed, she shook the blackness out of her vision to see the arrow protruding from his back.

"NO!"

_Pain. Fear. Leave. Go!_ Michael's mind had reverted to its frightened animal form and he pushed off the ground, gliding away.

"No!" Rose stood up and ran over to the man who held the crossbow. Her steps were slow and heavy but held the power of a tidal wave. "You fool! I had him calmed down! He would have been calm and peaceful in just a few more seconds! But you interfered, you mindless _stupid_ Human! I had him calmed down and you just had to get in my way, you _fool_!"

The man blinked several times at her outburst, and then his face grew ruddy with his anger. No woman ever dared to talk like this. "Hey, you listen here, lady, we had a perfectly good battle plan until you cam alone and disrupted us! You—"

"Shut up! Just shut up! You ruined it all!" Unconsciously, she had picked up a rock and hurled it.

It was a good thing her anger was too great for her to aim correctly. The rock missed, but her strength made her cause a deep indentation in the tree behind him. Had she actually struck him, she would have probably killed him.

She was surprised at her act of violence. She wasn't normally so out-of-control, but her mind was just too strained. She could have calmed down Michael, but this stupid macho Human man just had to interfere with her plans! Everything would have been back to normal! She almost had it all back again. Ten thousand years of suffering for her friend now gone. She was ready to kick out at anything to let go of her anger. Besides, it wasn't like they would have actually killed Michael. He would have retaliated. She saved their useless Human lives.

Afraid that she would lose her powerful temper, Rose ran off back into the darks of the forest and grabbed her pendant again.

-Please, please, please, gods, or anyone out there who has control of this, please just help me. For everything that I've done for the world, just help me with this one thing!- She clasped the pendant tightly in her hand and called on the power of the Dragoon. She should be able to draw on Michael's power, right?

Nothing.

-Damn!- Her mind shrieked. –Maybe a different way…-

Instead of reaching for the present, she reached into the past. Back a few seconds when Michael was calm and everything was almost-normal. His mind had been sane then, the power that she could draw upon. That power was still around her, anchored to her by their mind connection.

-Only one chance. Better make it good-

She gathered the leftover Spirit and wished as hard as she could.

Ah! Sweet, sweet transformation, power running along her veins. Free as wind, pure as music, deep as ocean. She could feel herself changing, relishing the transformation from Human-Dragoon to Dragon-woman. Deep violet and black light, tinged with red. Peaceful, calming, swirling around her. She felt like she could bathe in it forever, living her life in its perfection. Shapeless as the wind, with no worries or responsibilities. Freedom, the ability to float all over Endiness, it seemed like.

But harsh reality flooded back in her consciousness, as it always did, and she remembered.

-I have to find him- She thought, savoring the feel of her wings again for only a moment before flying into the air. She was in a risk, for the hunters might mistake her as a Dragon and shoot her. But it was a risk she was willing to take for her only living friend.

"Michael!" She yelled.

His insanity left a mind trail that she could probably follow if she was a mortal Human. She flew after him, and he sensed her. It became a race of maneuverability as he doubled back and flew back, over the farm. She swooped in a large arc and followed.

When he stopped and turned to face her, she thought perhaps he was gaining back his sense.

But the skin on his chest was pulling open and his ribs rustling.

-No. _No_. He wouldn't. Not to me.-

And yet he did. Without hesitation, without stopping to think, the black laser came toward her.

Her body took over where her mind wouldn't, gliding upward out of the direct path of the black laser. It was impossible to get further away. Her mind was useless.

The black power barely missed her, just a millimeter away from her right hip. The recoil was more powerful than before and this time she didn't fight it. She just went with the flow. The force was strong enough to push her far, far away, and only Soa would know whether or not she would survive. But she didn't think. All she knew was Michael and his firing the black laser. At her.

She didn't even know when she hit the ground.


	6. The Black Monster

**Chapter Six: The Black Monster**

"Oh gods, she's alive."

"She doesn't look it. I'll go get more salve."

She groaned. Everything hurt. –Am I finally dead?- She opened her eyes a slit and looked. Darius was kneeling next to her bedside. "Oh great, I'm stuck in hell with you for all eternity?" She muttered, sitting up, scowling at the pain that protested.

"Nope. You're stuck with me, but you're not in hell yet." Darius smiled widely, and before she knew it, he was hugging her tightly. She tensed, her eyes widening. But his embrace felt so soft. "Gods, you looked dead when we found you."

"Actually, Darius found you." Kristoff corrected. "How's your head?"

"As good as it can get under the circumstances." She replied. This was the nicest that Kristoff had ever been to her.

"I'll grab an ice pack." He disappeared out the door and she was left with Darius, who would be honest with her. He smiled again, and she thought his grin would split his face. But he seemed so sincerely joyous to see her well, and it was impossible not to smile back. But then she remembered what happened and her smile quickly faded. She grabbed his shirtfront, pulling him off his knees and up to her face. It was reflex, to be menacing when she was agitated.

"Quick, tell me, did they see anything?" She hissed.

"No. They saw shadows but you were flying too fast for them to even suspect anything. However, I found you, and you were…not Human. You were wearing the strangest armor, and you had wings. Your sword was a few feet away from you, and I made sure to put it back in your sheath. I knew how upset you would be if you didn't have your sword. But the wings…they weren't fake or props. They were seriously attached. I could actually see them coming out of your shoulder blades."

"My Dragoon form." She groaned. "So you saw."

"Just me. And I won't tell anyone." He promised. "The moment I tried to pick you up, your body started to shimmer and the armor and wings disappeared. By the time I got back, it just looked like you got caught in the recoil. That's what I told my brother and sister. The villagers think you're crazy for what you did to the Dragon, so I suggest that you don't go outside."

"I won't." She muttered again. "Michael?"

Darius shook his head. "Nope. Couldn't find him anywhere."

"Damn it to the nine hells and back." Rose snarled, downing the water that he gave her. She would have preferred something stronger.

"Rose…"

She glared at him. "What?"

"Nothing." He quickly said.

She slid her legs out of bed. "I need to go for a walk. Don't stop me, and _don't_ follow me."

o

The boulder exploded.

The power moving from her hand blasted the boulder into thousands of little pebbles that scattered hollowly across the clearing.

She screamed out her anger, howls of animal rage.

-He fired the black laser at me! Me!-

She felt anger, fury, pain, sadness, betrayal. Michael was her only friend and he tried to _kill_ her! Her only link to the past and he tried to destroy her! She didn't know what to do with the sadness welling up in her, so she converted it to anger and let it out with Dragoon magic.

-Michael, how _could_ you? I'm your friend!- She frowned deeper. -I trusted you with my life and my loyalty and my friendship and this is what I get in return? Why did you let your bloodlust take control of you?-

She screamed again, lashing out with her powerful legs at non-physical demons that she could never possible hit.

-Screw self-control- She thought, and let out her anger. She tossed aside all the barriers of self-control she had built up to keep the demon under control. The energy came out like a dam breaking apart and all the water just pouring out forcefully.

Black energy, like Michael's, but stronger. Black smoke crawling up and down her arms and legs, streaming across her torso and enveloping her face. She breathed it in and sighed. Respiration would have nothing to do with it. It wasn't a physical thing. It covered her externally and internally until she was nothing more than a hovering black mist of raw sheer _power_.

The Black Monster.

With the limitless energy flowing around her as she drained on Spirit, the Black Monster took over her mind, shooting black fire around her to let out anger. Even Michael would be terrified, that's how powerful it was. Compelling too. It demanded to be in control. Every 108 years she called on it, but she had always managed to keep it under control. She never called on it unless she needed to, like to kill the Moon Child. And now she was calling it to let out anger? What the hell was wrong with her?

The Black Monster took control, pushing her out of the consciousness. It thrust its "arms" open wide and tilted its "face" up to the sky. The black mist poured off it, and everything it touched seemed to be covered in a dark karma, as if a shadow was resting on it. It continued letting off anger as it compressed its hate into a solid thing and fired it, destroying more of the scenery. No trees fell over. Instead, they vaporized.

A small part of her was still in control, but hiding away. –Leave it. I want to rest- It shrunk into a tiny little sphere and hid in the furthest part of consciousness, where it stayed and cowered, trying to cry or scream or sob or _anything. _This was the essential Rose. Rose, the Dragoon. Rose, the Human female. Rose, the lost little girl who had lost her fiancé and is losing her only friend.

And that part of her suddenly snapped into full consciousness as the Black Monster registered something living.

Rose valued life. Though she killed often, she valued life and never took it without good reason. For the Moon Child, it was to save the world. For the villagers, it was to save them from becoming slaves of the divine evil. For monsters it was to feed or defend herself. She thought of life as a precious treasure because she had seen too much death and she decided that life was definitely better.

She forced her way into control, pushing through the clouded darkness of the Black Monster's mind so that she could see through its eyes. It pushed back, and the clouds became a dense heavy solid thing so that she couldn't get through.

-It's my mind. Give it back.- She thought furiously.

Forming her thoughts together, she shoved again. It bent, like rubber, but didn't give. This time she materialized a mental knife with her mind and jabbed out. The Black Monster howled in psychic pain and recoiled. Rose took this opportunity to shove her way into full consciousness and control, regaining the power to her own body and will. The Black Monster retreated into the deepest part of her unconsciousness, where it would be if she let it out again. And she knew that she would.

The black mist disappeared, gliding effortlessly back to her body, which soaked it up and regained its beautiful human form. Rose stretched, getting used to being back into a confined shape. But her eyes focused and she noticed the living thing that the Black Monster would have destroyed.

The living thing that was now staring at her out of shocked amber eyes.

Darius.


	7. The Truth

**Chapter Seven: Truth**

-Shit- "I thought I told you not to follow me." She stated coolly.

"You did. I didn't listen." His voice was flat, unforgiving. Dammit, she really was going to have to kill him, and NOW, before he told anyone. "What the in the name of the gods' _hell_ was that?"

She unsheathed her sword. It hung as a heavy weight in her right hand. "You know perfectly well, so don't mince words asking meaningless questions."

He met her cool gaze with his own. "The Black Monster, the hell-demon."

"Correct, as usual." Her voice was flat and mocking.

"So now what?"

"You also know the answer to that."

"You kill me, right?" He crossed his arms over his chest and took a step forward, not menacingly. The amber eyes didn't change. They held some emotion, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what it was. "To preserve your secret. To keep me from talking."

"Very smart. I wish you didn't follow me, Darius, I really do. You would have lived longer." Rose's voice was sincere. "If you weren't so nosy, perhaps I could have spared you. But I did tell you that I was a Dragoon and you know about the Dragon, and for that alone you must be killed."

"Kata and Kristoff too? The villagers?"

"You may not believe me, but I hold life in high esteem." She looked at him with sad, sad smoky eyes that reminded him of watered-down fire. "The villagers will be spared. They think I am a madwoman and it is better for them to keep it that way. But your sister and brother know the truth about my Dragoon origins. They may not believe me, but I can't take the risk of them someday figuring it out."

"So you kill them."

"As you said, to preserve my secret, yes. And to preserve the life on this world." She spoke wearily, as if delivering a speech that she had memorized and recited a hundred times before, no one ever listening.

Darius continued to stare at her out of those disarming amber eyes, his arms crossed, standing a yard away from her. He didn't move.

Rose frowned. "Aren't you going to do something?"

"What can I do?"

"Fall to your knees and beg for me to spare your life. Call me a crazy lunatic. Try to fight me. Kill yourself. Pick one of the above, it's what all the others do."

"I'll not give up my dignity and beg. I know you're not a lunatic. I know you can defeat me in battle; you've proven that before. I don't have anything to kill myself with, and I won't take that cowardly way out." He countered all of her suggestions.

"Clever." She commented, the sword resting across her chest on her left shoulder, one of her comfortable stances. "You don't have anything to say before you die? No last words or requests? All the others had something they wanted me to do, some very obscene. Nothing you want? No messages to your brother or sister?"

"None. No messages, no last words, and certainly I wouldn't dishonor you or myself by asking that you do… something obscene." Darius made a gesture with his hands. "Because I know that you won't kill me."

Again she was taken by surprise. A step back made her come in contact with a large tree that had escaped the Black Monster's wrath. The sword dropped to her side again. "What did you say?"

"I know you won't kill me. Or Kata. Or Kristoff." Darius repeated.

Rose's upper lip curled. "And how do you know that?"

"Because you said so yourself: you hold life in high esteem."

"It doesn't mean I hold my obligations any lower!" She hated him, _hated_ him, for getting through each and every one of her defenses and into her mind.

"I understand that. But you won't kill my siblings because it would do you no good. Kata and Kristoff really do think that you're crazy; they tell me constantly that I'm foolish for harboring you in our home. They don't believe you're a Dragoon. And you won't kill me because it's not the right thing to do. I won't tell."

"Gods, Darius, make this easier for me. I've been through this before!" She yelled. "You think any of the others haven't said that! Each and every one of them promised they wouldn't tell!" He could see tears of frustration forming in her eyes, and her voice was thick. "But I let one of them go, one of the first. He told the whole village and they nearly killed me."

"Do I seem like that kind of person?"

"No. But then again, neither did he." The tears slid down her face and her eyes were even sadder than before as she looked at him. "I'm sorry, Darius."

"I'm sorry too. Now that you bring it up, I think I do have a last request. A couple, actually. Will you grant them to me?"

She lowered her sword. "I may be a killer, but I'm not without sympathy or compassion. Name your requests, and if it is in my power, I will grant them to you."

Darius walked over and sat on one of the large boulders that seemed to be covered in shadow. He jumped up quickly and sat down on the grass instead, patting the ground next to him in a gesture for her to sit. Sighing, she sheathed her sword and sat.

"My first request is that you tell me everything. I know there's something you're hiding. The real reason for the Black Monster."

Rose sighed again. "I might as well tell you the whole truth.

"After the Dragon Campaign, ten thousand years ago, I was alone, aside from Michael. I didn't want to be around the Humans. I needed time to properly mourn and grieve over the deaths of my friends and fiancé. After a while, I stumbled into Ulara, the Spring Breath Town, and the Winglies there accepted me. They were led by Charle Frahma. Though she was the sister to Melbu Frahma, commander of the Winglies and who started the entire damn war, she did not like fighting or war. She and her followers had created this town so that they could stay away from the Dragon Campaign.

"I stayed with them for a while, and they helped me to heal. They were kind to me. But then Charle told me of a prophecy. 'Every 108 years, when the Moon That Never Sets glows red, a Moon Child will descend upon the earth to fill to the land with holy bliss.' However, this prophecy was—is—faulty. It all depends on your point of view of the holy bliss." She took a deep breath and paused.

"Please, go on." Darius spoke quietly. He didn't seem to be mocking her. Some of the guys she had met before merely pretended to be interested so that she would stay with them, but Darius seemed genuinely interested. So she continued.

"Soa made the prophecy. But Soa also wanted to recreate the living races. The Moon Child that would descend on Endiness would not be an angel of glory, but a symbol of death. Soa wanted to kill everything and make a new world. That was the promised bliss. Charle Frahma explained this to me, and she asked me to do her a tremendous favor. That was, every 108 years, when the Moon Child would appear, I had to kill it. To save the world, by sacrificing the life of an infant child. At first, I refused. After all, it was only a child, a just-born, innocent and completely defenseless. But…

"But Charle Frahma surprised me. She said it was okay, I didn't have to if I didn't want to. So I left her house and sat at the borders of the town with Michael, thinking. And I remembered what had happened in the past years, remembered why I had fought and why I had survived. It was because of Zieg, and all the others. They had fought bravely and they had sacrificed themselves to save the world. Was it so terrible for me to do the same? I had to protect the world that they died for. I couldn't let their deaths be in vain.

"So I went back to Charle Frahma, and I told her that I would do the favor for her. She smiled and said that she knew. Then she took me outside Ulara and gathered Spirit. With that, she formed my choker, which granted me eternal youth. It would keep me alive and detached from age and time. I spent a week by myself, gathering Spirit powerful enough to form another living essence. But…instead of letting it bathe in the white light, I bathed it in the black light. I thought of dark hateful thoughts until the Spirit was corrupted into the Black Monster. I accepted the Black Monster as a part of me. It would stay buried in my mind until the end of the 108-year period, where I would let it take control of my mind and destroy.

"Every 108 years this happened. It's been this way for nearly ten thousand years. Michael was always there as my support. Now he's gone, and I'm alone." Rose took a deep breath. "So now you know the truth. The Moon Child is _not_ your savior, here to rescue the world, but here to destroy it."

"I understand." Darius replied thoughtfully. "But if nobody else knows about this, why don't you tell them? If you told them, they would see _you_ as their savior, and not the Moon Child."

Rose shook her head. "No. Humans are ignorant. They prefer to believe in optimism. They wouldn't believe me. Besides, how am I supposed to tell them that the newborn in their village is going to be their death if they don't kill it? How will the mother feel? No, it's better this way."

"But you were a Dragoon. You saved them, ten thousand years ago."

"The Dragon Campaign is a long-forgotten legend to these people. I was very surprised when your sister remembered it. Many Humans see it only as a myth, a fairy tale. The Dragoons are long gone, or never existed, they say. It's just a fictional story told to amuse children and the gullible." She laughed bitterly, the tears drying on her face into sticky streams. "That's the truth, Darius. I've fulfilled your first request. What is the second?"

"You're really going to kill me?" He asked quietly. She could sense his next question: _After everything I've done for you?_

"I appreciate you trying to help me, Darius, honestly. No one has ever actually tried like you did, or at least, not in your sweet funny way. They tried…a different method." She made a face. "And I do like the flowers. But…how can I make you understand? This isn't just what _I_ want. It's what the _world_ needs. Please don't make this hard on me. It's tough enough as it is. Please." She looked at him and the tears started again. "What is your second request?"

He turned his head toward her and leaned forward, kissing her gently. His kiss was like raindrops falling on pond water, and tasted vaguely of jasmine tea. She tensed, startled, but he pulled away before she could react.

She glared at him. "Only because it was your last request and because you helped me will I not kill you right now for that."

"But you will kill me, won't you?"

She frowned. –That's right. I have to.- She sighed, drawing her sword out again. "Only because I have to."

She stood, raised her sword to his neck. He shut his eyes gently and lifted his head. She closed her own eyes, leaning slight pressure against the blade. She could smell the iron tinge of blood coming from the thin line she had opened up on his neck.

He spoke quietly. "If it will make you feel better, go ahead."

Her eyes flew open.

His golden-brown silk hair gleamed in the sunlight. His eyes gleamed with the same light, teasing but gentle. "Go on." He whispered. "If it will make you feel better, you can."

_Her cheeks flushed, lending a bit of red to her pale complexion, and she cast her eyes downward. He was so tall; she came up to only his shoulder, tall though she was, and the shadow he cast thankfully concealed the color in her face. "I'm not so selfish, Zieg. If you don't feel the same way, what makes you think I'd force you? Not just to make me feel better, but you, as well, Fire Dragoon."_

_He had laughed then, bent his head and kissed her. Her first kiss. She felt the fire within him rising until it filled her as well. She brought up the darkness and cast it into his mind so that he could understand her, a sharing of the elements._

_When he broke away, he smiled. "And did it make you feel better, my darling?"_

Darling. He had called her darling. She smiled back, eyes still downward.

Rose stared at Darius, at his compliant attitude, and his fair hair and closed amber eyes. In a way, he resembled Zieg. But it wasn't because of that.

She screamed, tossing away the sword and falling to her knees, grabbing her hair in her fists and pulling, trying physical pain. "You bastard! You made me feel!" She shrieked at him furiously. "I can't do it!"

She could feel his shock even in her own, and he knelt down beside her. Gently he put his arms around her and pulled her toward him. Lacking her usual dignity and arrogance, she collapsed against him, sobbing. He held her until the long string of expletives and the even longer stream of tears had stopped. But she didn't move.

"I didn't mean to make you upset." He said mildly.

She pulled away, laughing. "Only you, Darius. I think you may be the first one I've spared." She glared at him. "Don't let it get to your head. This is just a trial period. You may yet be of further use to me, and you did help me greatly. But I swear to the gods, if you _breathe_ a word of this to _anyone_, I will kill you, without hesitation. Understood?"

"Understood." He smiled at her, dazzlingly, and she could only smile back. "I won't tell. You have my promise."

She leaned against him again, startling the both of them, and laughed. "I think you're the first Human to know the truth."

"About you or the prophecy?"

"Either. Both." She pulled away again and smoothed down her hair. "Come on. I think it's time we got back. Remember, don't tell anyone. For both our sakes."

He winked at her. "It's our little secret."

She made a face at him. "Not quite so little, considering the fact that it involves the preordained fate of the world."

He put his arm around her as they walked and at first she tensed, but then thought, -what the heck.- and left it be. She was cold and he emanated warmth in all possible ways. Besides it was just friendly, right?

_Master!_

The call caught her by surprise and she was grateful for Darius's arm around her, to support her, catching her when she fell. She cried out, clutching her head. "Michael?"

The blinding blackness and the psychic darkness faded away and she opened her eyes, unaware that she had shut them. "I…"

"Is he safe?"

"More or less. But…something's wrong. Something doesn't seem right. He called for me, but it wasn't for help." She tossed her head. "I think…Darius, I think he's too far gone into the insanity of bloodlust for me to help him. I don't know what to do."

He smoothed her hair back. "First, make yourself presentable. My sister will worry about the both of us if you come in looking like that." He pulled out a long length of cloth from the pocket of his leather pants and held it out to her. She pulled her long hair into a dark ponytail and nodded her gratitude to him. "Secondly, don't worry. We'll figure something out. Third, are you okay? You look weak."

She was aware of the paleness of her skin, even paler than usual, and the fear in her eyes. "I'm fine. A bit faint, that's all. It's not unusual. After let it transform into my body, I am weak for the next few days. It's because the Black Monster takes up all the Spirit around it, including from my body. I don't know why I let it out in anger. I've never done that before. I'm not usually such a violent person, and I usually have much better self-control."

He grinned impishly at her, and she was automatically wary, but not in a battle sense. More in the sense of a person knowing that her friend is going to pull a prank. "Well then, if Lady Rose is tired, then I'm sure she'll need a ride so that she does not tire herself, yes?"

"Darius, what are you talking about?" Her annoyance was hidden under a sort of mock-playfulness.

He smiled again and swept her legs out from under her. She faltered, her arms careening wildly for something to grasp as her body tried to right itself. She collapsed into something firm that held against her back, and his other arm supported the back of her knees. Surprised and frightened at the sensation of falling and being picked up, she reflexively threw her arms around his neck. –just- she thought –as he planned, no doubt-

"Darius!" She yelled. "_Put me down now!"_

"Have I offended the Lady Rose?" He asked angelically, his eyes very wide.

She laughed. "You fool. Put me down, Darius."

His voice turned quiet. "Would you please call me Dar? My friends do."

She relaxed. –So I am his friend- "Dar."

He noticed that he did not demand that he put her down. He took it as a good sign until he looked down and realized she was asleep. Wow becoming that black monster must really have taken a drain on her. Of course, to be that powerful, its energy had to come from _some_where. _It's because the Black Monster takes up all the Spirit around it, including from my body._ No wonder she fell asleep so quickly. All the energy, or Spirit as she said, inside her was drained. He had seen what the Black Monster had done to the flowers and trees around it.

"Sleep then. It just makes you easier to carry." He told her serene form. The fierceness was gone from her face when she slept, leaving only a vulnerable young woman, normal as any other. And she was so _light_, as if she was made of flower petals. Combined with her long limbs and weightless looking body, Darius thought she was a breath of air, and if he blinked, she would disappear.

-You're a mysterious woman.-


	8. Destruction

**Chapter Eight: Destruction**

She unconsciously snuggled closer to his warmth, and he had to smile. Like a child, she was. She fit so perfectly in his arms.

She stayed in the state of sleep until he reached the farm again. Darius breathed in the scent of fresh air and looked up at the sky, which was perfectly blue and serene.

Until you saw the black menacing shape of the Dragon hovering over the house itself. The wings were flapping wildly and he could feel danger in the air.

"Rose!" he hissed loudly, shaking her. "Rose, wake up!"

She made a slight whimpering sound and shifted. Still too tired to do anything.

But he couldn't just let her sleep. She was the only one who could help.

"Rose, wake up now!" He dropped her and she landed on the freshly plowed field.

"_Not_ the proper way to wake someone up." She muttered, rubbing her backside as she got up and glared at him.

But she saw the fear in his eyes as he looked at a space above her shoulder. Rose already knew before she turned around to see her Vassal Dragon above the house. "That's Michael, isn't it?" Her voice was resigned, and she was asking a statement.

"They're still in there." Darius realized and started running toward the house. Rose was right next to him. "Kata! Kristoff! Get out of there, now! Get out of the house! Hurry up!"

"Michael, stop!" Rose screamed, broadcasting her thoughts as far and as loud as she could. "Stop it! You're killing innocents!"

Years before, he would have stopped immediately. Now he pretended not to hear. Or maybe he really didn't.

"Kata! Kristoff!"

Michael fired the black laser. Its vaporizing force collided directly with the house.

"No!"

The recoil was coming toward them. She could feel it. With this close range it might as well _kill_ them.

-No. I refuse.-

Rose called on Spirit, on darkness, on power, and on herself. With it she formed a barrier, a sphere that went around her and Darius, above them and below them, into the dirt. To a normal Human's eyes, it was a transparent barrier tinged with a deep dark violet color, casting its insides in shadow. To a person with magic, it was a shield, formed hastily but powerfully, made of assorted forms of Spirit. She kept the shield up, trying to make it solid, but there wasn't enough energy.

"It's…not enough." She gasped.

Darius put his hands on her shoulders and she drew on his power, his Spirit. Like his eyes, his Spirit reminded her of amber sap. It helped to form the last parts of the barrier, so that when the recoil reached them, the shield was solid and strong. The shockwave collided with her defense and she screamed, bracing her feet and her mind to stay.

When it subsided to a gentle rocking, like ocean waves, she let go of the energy. Darius helped her to her feet and then they were both off, running quick as the wind that swayed the dead stalks of corn.

"Kata! Kristoff!" The house itself was demolished, an empty shell. The roof was already gone and so was the second floor. The first floor looked as fragile as a thin sheet of ice and Rose was sure that if she breathed on it, it would fall apart on her.

"I'll check around the house. Maybe they got out. You check inside."

She nodded and ran up to the steps. Wary, she slowed and gracefully walked up, keeping her steps light and fragile. The door crumbled when she touched it and she raced inside.

-Is anyone here?- she was afraid that if she said it out loud, the sound waves might knock apart the house.

There was no response and no psychic activity to show her that anyone was still alive. She sincerely doubted that they would be. Michael's attack was…very final.

Something caught her eye and she picked up a tiny golden pendant shaped like two crescent moons.

"No." Kata answered quickly, before her brother could intercede. With her right hand, she toyed with a necklace that was fastened to her throat, a pendant in the shape of two crescent moons.

-Shit-

She hadn't expected to find a body, seeing as how most of the victims were vaporized, but she did. Or rather, something that vaguely resembled a body.

Rose stood next to it, staring down at the prone form. Was it even a body?

Her mind answered the question. –Yes, of course it is. You've seen enough of them-

She knelt down next to it, and swallowed a rising of bile in her throat. What was the left of the body was too delicate to bring outside, and she couldn't possibly let Darius see the charred and peeled flesh, the sunken facial features, the mouth opened in silent screams, the blood that had poured out as her arteries burst open.

-May the gods forgive me. Miraroshi Miranda, goddess of compassion and kindness, guide her soul peacefully to the next incarnation.- Rose spoke a quick prayer and left the house as quickly as she could, stopping once only to release the bile that had welled up in her throat. The body was just too…disconcerting for her to deal with.

She wasn't even surprised when the walls fell down as soon as she got out of the house.

Darius was waiting for her outside. A limp form lay on the ground behind him. Kristoff, as far as she could tell. She moved swiftly and checked for a pulse. Shallow, but still there. His head was caked in dried blood. The recoil must have physically thrown him against a tree or a rock.

"He's alive." Darius told her. "Kata?"

Rose could only shake her head.

She watched him nod and opened her arms. He walked into her embrace as if that could take away any of the pain. "I'm sorry."

"It won't bring them back."

"I know. Nothing ever does. But I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought you into this."

"No. You had no idea that this would happen." Darius pushed away from her and went to kneel by his brother. "We'll need another place to stay."

"Can he make it to town? Or to the next one? I can pull strings from there."

"We shouldn't come to the main parts of Ceplao. They think you're crazy."

"I'll hide."

"No. Kristoff can make it to the next town. He's unconscious, is all. He's tough. Can't you just fly us over to the next town? Your wings looked strong."

"No. It's impossible for me to call on Michael's power when he's in this state. I haven't been able to change into a Dragoon for a while now. If I do, I'll end up like him. Soa knows how much damage I could do if that happened. The last time I did it was when he was sane for just a few seconds, when I spoke to him. But I can't draw on his power anymore, which means he's still in bloodlust, most likely resting someplace, or else he would be rampaging again. We'll have to do it the old-fashioned way. I'll carry him." Rose took the limp body from Darius, who did not protest, and slung Kristoff over her shoulder, as easily as she had the bear. "Do you have a weapon against monsters?"

"I brought my bow and arrows when I went after you, but I'll run out before we reach the next town."

"Here." With one swift motion, Rose pulled out her own sword and tossed it to him. "Use mine. I won't be able to fight as well carrying him. Don't argue. Let's just go."

Darius tested the weight of the sword in his right hand. "It's a heavy sword, nicely forged."

"It was a gift from Zieg."

o

The next town was Tatren, and the doctor there was highly recommended. They left Kristoff there under his care, but the doctor reminded them "I don't heal people for free, you know."

Pushing Darius aside, Rose replied coolly. "We know. You'll get your payment, considering that you do your job right."

He snorted in contempt and turned to his patient. Rose left quickly, with Darius behind her.

"We don't have money to pay for the doctor and for an inn." He told her, returning her sword, which she quickly sheathed.

"Calm yourself. We will. I brought some Gold that I saved up from a few jobs I held. I was going to pay you for letting me rest at your house. We'll use it to pay the doctor."

"How much do you have?"

"275 Gold."

"It's just enough to pay the doctor, but not enough to pay for food or a two-person room. You can take it, I'll sleep outside."

She glared at him. "If anyone is going to sleep outside, it would be me, seeing as how I'm used to it. But neither of us will need to. Stand aside. I'll take care of it."

She ducked into the inn and returned a few minutes later with a confused look on her face. "I couldn't. He resisted me." She mused thoughtfully, tapping one long finger against her lips. "Strange."

"What are you talking about?"

"My mind control. Usually I can slip in a couple of thoughts into a person's mind, sort of a manipulation without actually possessing. But I couldn't do it. I guess I'm too weak."

"Now what?"

"Now I try a different method." She slipped into the shadows, and two minute later was back with a small leather pouch full of Gold.

"You stole?!" Darius asked, incredulous.

"I need to. I don't get enough money at times to survive, so I've learned to pick pockets. Besides, I think we have good reason." She lowered her voice and her smile slowly spread across her face. "Seeing as how I save them every 108 years."

"Fine." Darius was obviously rather shaken at her method but he smiled. "Well, the inn looks rather cozy, and I'm tired. After you, my lady."

She tossed him a shaky smile and entered. The innkeeper studied her warily. "What is it this time?" Obviously he had not liked Rose trying to mind control him, though he could have no idea what it was. He must have only felt a tickling at his brain when she appeared, followed by her asking if she could have a room.

"Take it easy." Rose told him casually, reaching into the money pouch and tossing 200 Gold at him. "A two-bed room for three nights."

The old man swept the Gold into his pockets and smiled warmly, his attitude switching from openly annoyed to friendly and genial. Amazing what money could do to a person. "This way please." He said graciously, sweeping his arm out in a generous gesture.

Exhausted from all the mind techniques she had done today, Rose fell asleep as soon as she fell into her bed, but gentle crying that woke her in the middle of the night.

She lifted her head and realized that the crying was in the small room. Turning to the only other person in the room, she watched Darius lying on his side with his back to her. She thought he was shivering at the night cold, since the innkeeper had left a stingy amount of coals for the small brazier at the foot of the beds, until she heard him sniffling as he silently wept.

"Darius?"

She rose and went to him, crawling next to him. She didn't ask if he was okay because she knew that he wasn't, instead, she simply gathered him into her arms. He slipped his own arms around her waist, hugging her to him the way a child hugs a stuffed animal at night. He reminded her of a half-drowned puppy she had found after a storm a few years ago, shivering and whimpering.

"She's dead, Rose. My _sister_ is _dead_." His voice was quiet and shaking.

Rose nodded, her chin resting on the top of his head. She didn't say "it's okay" or "I'm sorry". She said, "I know. Just cry." The initial shock had faded from him and now only sorrow was left. And Rose, the most powerful being in existence for the time being, could only hold him. She nestled his cheek to her breast and rocked back and forth gently, the way her nanny had done so long ago. It was one of the few things that she liked about her nanny, the way that the old woman could relax her.

Darius let out a long shaky breath and she released her hold on him, laying his head back onto the pillow. She smiled at him warmly. "Just sleep. It's the only time when pain goes away for a while." He smiled back at her, tentatively, and she got up to leave, but he grabbed her wrist, jolting her to a stop. Confused, she turned back to him. "What is it?"

"Will you stay with me tonight?" he asked her.

She tilted her head. –Uh-oh-

"No, not like that. Just…will you just lie beside me? So that I know you're there? Please?" He was like a child, his eyes wide and his aura just so frazzled and delicate.

Rose smiled. "Of course, Dar."

He moved over so that she would have room, and she slithered underneath the covers. The bed was barely big enough to hold two people, but she was a slender woman. Darius sighed slightly, and she waited until he was calmly asleep before she closed her eyes.

She'd seen the reactions of people after deaths. But Darius really reached her. She smoothed back a strand of his hair and convinced herself into a dark sleep.

o

The morning sun shone on her face, warming her skin until she woke up.

Darius was still asleep, peacefully. Had her presence beside him really lulled him into a gentle slumber?

She slid out of bed, quietly so as not to wake him, and walked over to the metal basin full of water that the innkeeper had filled for them. She took her time washing up, then strapped on her sword and left the room.

Tatren didn't seem like a bad town. It was nicely built, and the people greeted her good morning even though they were all strangers. She smiled and nodded politely, enjoying the sense of being not-hated. She checked up on Kristoff. His condition had improved and he should be waking up later that evening, the doctor told her. She gave him his payment after he said that Kristoff could stay until his head fully healed.

She entered the clock tower, climbing out the small window and up onto the sun-warmed tiles of the sloping roof. Bracing her feet against the roof she lay back onto her elbows and studied the sky. It was a perfect day, not a cloud in sight, well except for that little poof over there by the horizon.

-Am I learning how to relax even if Michael is not here?-

"Hey!" A voice called from below. Rose started, and then rolled onto her stomach and leaned over the edge. Darius's head poked out from the window.

"What are you doing?" She asked him, watching as he struggled.

"Trying to get through this blasted window. How did you fit?" He demanded.

She laughed, grabbing hold of his hand and pulling him through. "Your shoulders are broader than mine." She told him as he settled next to her on the roof, long legs stretched out against the tiles.

"I'm sorry if my…request last night was…inappropriate. I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"Don't worry. You needed comfort. Besides, it's not like we did anything." She sensed his shifting of thoughts. "What are you doing here?" She asked him.

"I thought you might be lonely."

-I'm always lonely. It's an effect of what has happened to me.- "You lie." She told him easily. "You forgot what I am. I know you're lying. The real reason you came up here was because you wanted my help in killing Michael."

He was silent, obviously surprised at her accuracy. He chose his words carefully. "I won't demand your help, Rose. I'm asking you to help. He killed my sister."

Now it was her turn to be silent.

"What would you do if you were in my place? Pretend that it was Zieg that was in that house and he was killed."

"Zieg was killed by Melbu Frahma." She told him through tightly clenched teeth.

"Okay, say that you came face-to-face with May-bu Frahma," he stumbled on the first part of the name. "The person who killed your fiancé, someone you cared about. Wouldn't you want to avenge Zieg by defeating him?" He was staring at her face but she kept it turned away.

"Melbu Frahma was killed alongside Zieg."

"Damn it, you know what I mean! If you had a chance to kill him and avenge your fiancé, wouldn't you take it?"

"That's exactly what I mean. I can't defeat Melbu Frahma by myself any more than you can kill Michael by yourself."

"I know I can't kill the Dragon by myself." He stated, calmly, patiently. "Which is why I'm asking for your help." When she didn't reply, he continued. "Rose, please. He killed my sister."

She took a deep breath. "I am tired, Darius. Tired of watching people die, families mourn, the dead forgotten. Tired of killing and carrying guilt. Tired of betrayal and tears. And I am bloody _damn_ well _tired_ of losing my friends." Her voice was laced with her weariness and the force that she put on the emphasis seemed to be able to knock her over.

"I know. But wasn't it you who said that you held life in high esteem? I know you love Michael desperately, and pardon the cliché, but if he's not stopped, more people are going to die, like Kata. Do you really want to trade one life for thousands?"

Her eyes flared. "_Don't,_" She hissed, deadly, turning to face him. "_Ever_ tell me about that balance. I traded my own life for the millions on Endiness. I destroy a town every 108 years to protect the rest. I know far more than you do about the balance of life."

"Then you must know what we have to do." Darius said, point-blank. "Please, I'm asking for your help."

"You're asking me to kill my only friend."

"Not your only friend. I will still be here."

She made a big show of staring at her hands.

"Rose—"

"Fine!" She screamed. Her voice dropped. "I'll help you."

o

Kristoff woke late in the afternoon.

They had bought lunch with the last of the stolen purse's money, and were eating in the doctor's office, when he came into consciousness. "Where am I?" he groaned.

"In a doctor's office in Tatren, the next town." Darius told his brother.

"What happened?"

"What do you think happened?"

Kristoff's head shifted to the other side. "I…I was coming back from town. Kata asked me to buy some groceries for her. When I was coming back, I heard Darius screaming. I started running, and then something hit me and I blacked out. What happened, Dar?"

"The Dragon attacked the house."

He opened his eyes all the way and rose up to his elbows. "Kata! Where is she?"

Darius shut his eyes and walked over to the wall, staring at a particular spot. Knowing it would pain him to speak, Rose knelt next to Kristoff's bed so that she was eye-to-eye with him. "Michael attacked while Darius and I were out hunting. When we came back, we saw Michael about to fire the black laser. Darius yelled for you and Kata to get out. We found you outside later on. I went inside to find Kata."

"_And?"_

Rose held out the crescent moons pendant. Kristoff took it gently, and pocketed it.

And suddenly he was on his feet, pushing her against the wall, his hand around her throat, so that her feet didn't touch the floor. Though she could have easily knocked him out, hell, in his weakened state, she might as well kill him, the angry agony in his eyes stopped her.

"You bitch!" he yelled furiously. "Ever since we rescued you, our lives have changed! We should have left you out in that field! Kata is dead! If you never came here, demon-woman, she would still be alive!"

"Kristoff!" Darius pried his brother's fingers off Rose's slender throat, and she slid to the ground, coughing. "Stop it! Trying to kill Rose won't bring Kata back! Kristoff, _stop_."

His brother collapsed, and Rose fled.

o

"Hi." Darius said quietly, sitting down next to her in the front pew of the empty church. "I didn't expect to find you here."

She didn't say anything, so he continued. "Are you praying to the gods?"

Silence.

He sighed. "Rose, Kristoff didn't mean it. He was just angry."

To his surprise, she spoke. "I had long since stopped believing in the gods. They say that we are all children of the gods, but if I am their daughter, why do they push this responsibility and this pain onto me? Would they do that to their own children? I've lost my faith in the gods long before."

"Rose?"

"He was right, you know. I dragged you guys into this the moment I accepted your offer when I woke up. Why do you think I didn't fight back? It's because I knew he was right and I deserved it."

Darius tilted her head upward with a light touch on the back of her neck, a sensitive spot. He winced as he studied the red imprints on her pale throat. "Ow… Listen, I explain to Kristoff that you were going to help us get revenge for Kata, and he sent more or less of an apology."

"Okay." She said dispassionately.

"Well…are you going to help us with Michael?"

She sighed. "Yeah. Come on. I have a plan."


	9. Broken

**Chapter Nine: Broken**

"Impossible. It's too dangerous. I simply cannot allow you to risk your lives, or furthermore, the lives of the people of my village." The village magistrate told them firmly. "I'm sorry, but you cannot."

Rose clenched her fists tightly. She admired the loyalty that the magistrate felt toward his village, but it was also irritating her to no end. She felt Darius shift position next to her. "So you'll let these people be killed?" She asked calmly.

The magistrate's eyes narrowed. "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Guards, be so kind as to show them out."

Two men came in, placing a hand on their guests' arms, gently urging them out of the room. The taller one must have been very surprised when the harmless-looking female couldn't be budged, even when he pushed.

"I've seen what the Dragon can do." Rose said coldly, tearing her arm from the grip of the soldier who was holding her just a bit too tightly. "He's gone insane and he's in bloodlust. He destroyed a large farm in Ceplao without breaking a sweat. He's killed half the villagers there without batting an eye. Do you really think he will hesitate to do so here?" She paused. "I saw your daughter in the other room, magistrate. She's a young girl, still very innocent. It would be a great pity for her to die."

The magistrate faltered at this low blow, but recovered quickly, "We have our own soldiers standing by. They can take care of this matter."

-If anyone is going to kill Michael, it's going to be me!- Rose snarled in her mind.

"Sir," Darius said, interrupting. "I'm sure your soldiers are fine warriors. But Lady Rose here has been tracking this Dragon for a year now. She knows many things about it. It will only risk a few lives, our plan. A handful versus the thousand that you have here. Your people could be evacuated."

"How exactly do you plan on beating this Dragon?"

Dar gave the old man a charming smile. "Let me tell you about Spirit…"

After an hour of persuasion and ten seconds of Rose's threats, as she had long since lost her patience, the magistrate hastily agreed to the plan. The people were evacuated, aside from one villager whom Rose had requested.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"Y-Yaryl, ma'am." The boy was fourteen and the swiftest runner in Tatren.

"Do you understand what you are to do?"

"Yes, sir—ma'am!"

"Good. Get into position." Rose watched him run off and then glared at Darius. "Do _you_ understand?"

He winked at her and she had to fight back a smile. His cheerful disposition and charming personality was contagious. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Let's go." The village was silent without the people bustling about. They had long since fled to the forest, where their trained soldiers would protect them from monsters.

Kristoff was waiting for them on the rooftop of the building. He was standing next to an enormous strange contraption that had taken them two days to create. Made of wood and metal, it was strong and had a good range.

A catapult.

Rose had gotten the idea from the Dragon Campaign, where the Humans on the ground would fire catapults up at the Winglies in the sky. Long-range weapons. Good. She didn't feel like getting too close to an enraged, bloodlust Michael.

Kristoff walked over to them and glared at her. She had long since received many glares of hatred and pain, accusation. But every time, it still hurt her. "I don't know who or even _what_ the hell you are, but if you're helping us to avenge my sister, then you're not an enemy…for now. After this, then I will decide whether or not you are responsible for her death."

"Understood." Rose nodded. "The Dragon should be here soon. I've been studying its flight patterns and Tatren should be the next town it attacks. We're just going to have to wait until then. Be ready at any moment."

She sat cross-legged on the rooftop, meditating and bringing out inner power. As a child she had never believed in anything like this, and had laughed at her nanny when the old woman told her she had great power. But during the Dragon Campaign, watching the Winglies form the multicolored spheres that sapped away energy, and the sparkling visible jewel-like powder that had fallen from the Dragoons wings, she started to believe. Magic supported her beliefs.

It was probably an hour later that Darius shook her shoulder. "Rose!"

She snapped to life immediately, uncrossing her legs and standing up. A dark shadow was appearing in the distance, and if she stretched her mind just a little, she could feel him, roaring and tormented with a need to kill.

"He's here. Get ready." She stood up and shrilled a sharp whistle. The boy looked up and she waved frantically. He nodded, not hesitating for a second. Crouching down in starting position, one eye on her, he waited for her signal.

-Wait…wait…- Rose knew that the life of the boy was dependent on her split-second timing. He needed to shoot out just Michael was glancing in that direction. He would capture Michael's attention, drawing it long enough for them to attack and then he could go somewhere safe.

Michael was coming closer now. She could see his wings beating. The image of him was burned into her mind. Rose shut her eyes briefly and then made a sharp motion with her hand.

Yaryl shot off like an arrow in a taut bowstring. Michael's head swiveled and he roared. It caused the boy to stumble once but it didn't slow him down.

_-Keep running- _Rose thought frantically.

Michael was in range now, a few more seconds, and… "Darius, now!"

Kristoff lit the oiled ball of rags with a torch, setting it aflame. Darius took the little dagger she had given him and cut the string on the catapult. The ball sailed up into the air in a graceful arc, elegantly moving toward Michael.

_-Spirit…guide me…lend me your power-_

She didn't see what the catapult did but she heard Michael's scream and the fluttering of wings.

She gathered the Spirit around her. From the flame on the torch and the life of the trees to the Spirit inside her and the ground beneath her. The energy of the wind and the water of the ocean a few miles away. The power of Nature and the humans beside her. Spirit…the living essence that created all things…and could destroy all things.

She could feel the very soul of the elements. She realized the toughness and the frailty and the purity of them. The immunity and the vulnerability of the virtually untouchable Spirit formations. Every little thing that the wind had brushed by, every cheek it had cupped in its embrace. Every petal of every beautiful flower that sprung from the womb of Mother Earth, every tree that swayed hypnotically, every grain of sand and dirt that the roots spread into. Every powerful water wave that ever crashed onto the beach, every rip tide that ever existed. Every metallic item that lightning had struck, every child and pet that had been terrified by the yawning growl of thunder. Every building that fire had destroyed, every group of travelers that depended on its warmth, even the heat of two passionate lovers. Everything rushed into her head in a sudden bout of knowledge, so strong and forceful and almost _physical_ that she stumbled back, her head snapping back on her neck.

And darkness…her most familiar element. That she already knew all about. She drew on its power, on the darkness within her, the darkness of the night, and the darkness within every person's heart. She took the elements and her own and combined it.

The light…and that light was so damn _bright!_ It was like looking straight at the sun with her naked eye. She shut her eyes and freed her mind, allowing the energy to stream through her.

She screamed at the energy that she had drawn and saved up. Tearing her arms away from herself she splayed her fingers at her longtime friend. The power, no longer contained, fairly _flew_ out of her, out her fingertips, directly from her energy reserves, untainted by her thoughts or mind, pure as snow. She felt the wholeness of it, stretching out, yearning for something it could never reach. The light…what color is it? Violet? Silver? Gold? She couldn't understand. Whatever the color, whatever the power, it left her hands and streamed along toward the Dragon.

Perhaps the purity itself would destroy him.

The elements slammed into him, and he was too weak and slow from the first catapult attack to avoid. Seeing that it had him in its clutches, Rose continued the attack, pouring out all of her energy reserves, draining herself. There is no risen dust, no swirling leaves and feathers. It is just light, so much light that it seemed to fill the entire world, so that the air itself is tinted with gold and violet and sky blue and carmine. So much light it is as if there had never been any darkness, never been her. She could see clearly; she didn't need to squint her eyes shut.

Michael tried to defend himself. She could feel him tossing up a mind barrier, but he couldn't block it off. It was impossible. This…_this_ was the purity of the elements, the virtue and strength of their existence.

As a last attempt, though it was useless now, she stretched out her mind. –Michael, don't resist it. It hurts more if you resist…- Her message was bounced back to her in anguish and fury. She reached out again, trying to get into his mind, but she was pushed back, against a wall. A barrier made of darkness. How ironic, that the darkness that bound them together as partners and friends was the same darkness that kept them separated now.

The energy was gone now. She had gone past her limit. The elements had helped her and so had Spirit. Now she was empty.

Her Darkness Dragon screamed, a sound that pierced the air. She screamed with him.

And then they both fell.

Darius was there faster than she thought was possible, catching her before her head hit the ground. "Rose!"

She groaned as she pulled herself back into consciousness. "Dar? Is Michael…?"

She allowed him to help her to her feet and point her in the right direction. It took her a while to realize that the twitching heap of black flesh in the fields was Michael. He was screaming still, an anguished moaning, a cross between a lost child searching for his mother and a being who has lost his best friend. He was writhing, but the skin on his chest remained lax. He had no power left for the dark laser now.

Kristoff and Yaryl were approaching him. Darius's brother had a sword in his hand and the runner boy had a torch.

"No!" Rose screamed. The wind carried her word in the wrong direction and the two did not stop. She turned to the man beside her. "Dar, I can't let them kill him!"

He took her shoulders, stopped her hysterics. "Rose. You of all people must know what has to be done."

"I know! But _I_ have to do it! No one else!"

Dar considered her words and then nodded, taking her gloved hand and leading her into the building, down the stairs, through the paths and streets and finally toward the fields. She tore her hand away and put an extra burst of energy into her tired legs. There was little Spirit left in her, but for Michael…

"Get away!" She came up behind Kristoff like a wraith in the night, jabbing the side of her hand into his neck. He crumpled without a sound and Yaryl barely had time to turn before she grabbed his neck as well, turning him to face her. "I'm going to release you now." She said calmly. "Snuff out the torch somewhere far from here and run toward the forest where the rest of your village people are hiding."

The boy stared at her blankly, the hand with the torch still creeping toward Michael's body.

"Do that," Rose said pleasantly. "And the breath you take will be your last."

The hand stopped.

"That's a good boy." She paused. "Never get in the way of a Dragon hunter and her prey. Now get out of my sight." She dropped him and he fled in the direction of the dense woods, terrified of the pale ice maiden with dark fire in her eyes.

Darius came up beside her and whistled softly. "Remind me not to get you angry."

She ignored him, kneeling down by her lifelong friend. She probed with her mind first, tentatively examining the barrier of darkness with a light touch. Sensing her warm familiar mind signature, the walls collapsed and she could see her friend for the first time in a long time again. "Michael?"

_Master._

His psychic voice was normal now. Weary, fatigued, _dying_, but normal. Not a trace of bloodlust.

"How are you doing?"

_Well, let's see…I'm dying, so I guess I would be doing badly._

She chuckled as she laid her head at his neck, stroking his muzzle. "I hope you understand what I had to do, Michael. I couldn't let you kill more people."

_I understand perfectly. I thank you._

"Michael…" her voice was the quiet voice of a lost child. "Why did you do it? What made you go insane with the bloodlust again? I thought we were over that."

_We were. I had learned to control it. But…that day when we destroyed Tratmick and you went into Bale… _

"The day we met up with Feyrbrand again?"

_Yes, that fated day…_ Michael sighed in his mind but his physical body was wheezing, jerking in an effort for air. _What Feyrbrand said to me…that was what made me go insane. _

She dropped a feathery kiss onto a burn welt on his forehead. "And what did he say to you?"

_He said that it was my fault about the Dragon Campaign. You were nearly killed, Rose-master. You barely made it out of the floating castle in time. You could have been killed. Feyrbrand told me this, and told me it was my fault that I didn't stop you, that I didn't go in to protect you. And if I was outside, why didn't I help the other Dragoons? It was my fault that you nearly died. It was my fault that you had to become this Black Monster that you so hate… _

"Oh, Michael…" Rose's words were a sobbing gasp and she allowed herself to cry into his scaly skin. "It wasn't your fault, my friend. I saw what happened to Zieg…and to the others. There was no way you could have helped any of them."

_You could not have helped any of them either. But I did not go insane with that fact. I tumbled into bloodlust because I nearly lost you. So I figured if I killed more monsters, it would be like redemption. But when I killed the pack of Forest Runners that first night…I couldn't stop myself. It just kept building up until I eliminated the dera herd. I almost lost you, master. I nearly lost you again, during my rages, and I'm sorry for that._

She shook her head. So it was for her that he went insane. –It wasn't your fault. I too, understand bloodlust. I'm just glad that you stopped before killing more- She had to speak in mind-link now. If she spoke physically her tears would definitely overflow and drown her in their watery subtlety.

_How many did I kill? _

She wanted to laugh. –No more than the ones that I've killed.-

Michael shifted slightly and she could tell that slight motion brought him another step closer to death. _That young man behind you, I killed one of his clan? Is that why he follows you? _

Rose considered his question. –You killed his sister- she answered, but she didn't reply to the second question.

_Please tell him I'm sorry._

She stroked his muzzle again, curling closer to his familiar warmth that was quickly diminishing. "Dar," She called. "Michael apologizes for what happened to Kata."

Dar sat down next to her and nodded, forcing a grin on his face. "If you do that to all your friends," he waved a hand at her snuggling and petting. "Can we try it sometime?"

Rose glared at him. "Ask me that again, and I'll maim you." –Michael, are you okay?-

_If okay means dying then yeah, I'm perfectly okay._

"I'm sorry." She choked out the words through the tears clogging her throat and she started to sob. "I'm so sorry, Michael."

_Stop leaking. It was necessary. As the Black Monster, you know what needed to be done in all occasions. You are very brave._

"I don't want to be brave anymore. Are you leaving me?"

_Everything that comes must leave eventually. I'm just leaving a bit earlier. Stop that infernal sound you're making. _

Rose stopped sniffling and swallowed her hiccups. "Is there anything I can do to make it better?"

His eyes were so sad as he looked up at her. _Yes. One thing._

She understood immediately and rose to her feet, drawing her sword. "I'll do it, but only to make your passing easier."

_Thank you, my friend._ He opened the skin on his chest and pulled the ribs apart. She could see the sluggish beating of his warm loving heart.

"I love you, Michael."

_And I, you. Don't forget me. _

"I won't. I promise." Rose drew her sword arm back and thrust it forward.

She shut her eyes immediately. She couldn't bear to watch. The blade met resistance, and the most awful sound filled the air.

When it faded away, she opened her eyes. His eyes were so sad, but he was smiling. Content.

It was a long time before the passing was complete. She knelt down, sword on the grass, hands folded in her lap, and watched. His body faded slowly, _faded_. It shifted form from solid to something not quite a state of matter, a black cloud of darkness, their element. The black cloud hovered in the air for a second and then headed toward her. She didn't flinch.

It stroked her face with Michael's gentle caress, and she reached out with her mind. It whispered eight words to her and then disappeared, being drawn voluntarily into her Dragoon Spirit. Forever would he be bound to her now, and she could draw on his shade's power for her spells.

She stood, wavered.

"Rose?" Darius reached out to hold her before she fell. She didn't care. "Rose, are you okay?"

She had never fainted from shock before, but there's a first time for everything.

As she swooned, she could still hear Michael inside her mind.

_I'll be with you forever. I love you. _

It was done.


	10. Aftermath

**Chapter Ten: Aftermath**

She was alone when she woke up. She didn't like that feeling.

Darius had let her keep her sword belt this time, learning from that first time, when she had attacked the three siblings in defense. She placed her palms on a dresser, letting it support her weight, taking a deep breath.

-No time for weakness. You can't afford to be weak now- She swallowed the sorrow that was starting and began to pack. She filled the pouches on her belt with sufficient supplies and healing items. Everything else she could steal or improvise.

She walked out of the house, ducking through the streets without anyone pointing out the fact that she had attacked that boy. It was easy for her. She was an original type, and attracted attention easily because of her looks and aura, but she had the ability to walk casually and yet make the commoners not look at her twice.

Kristoff and Darius were talking in the field where Michael's passing had took place. The grass and rocks there were dark, as if cast in shadow. She wasn't surprised. She made her way over to them in tipsy steps.

They stood up when they saw her. "Rose."

"Hello." She said evenly and looked at Kristoff. "I'm sorry. You're right. It was my fault. As a Dragon hunter I shouldn't have lied to you. It cost your sister her life. My apologies mean nothing to you but I say them anyway. I only hope that your pain will lessen someday."

Not expecting that at all, Kristoff's well-planned tirade fizzled out on his tongue and all he could do was snort and turn his head aside.

Rose predicted nothing less than that. "Darius." She said to him.

He looked at her with a tortured look in his eyes. "You have to leave now?"

She flinched away from his gaze. It was not betrayal, but with sadness and longing that evaded all of her walls and made her feel disconcerted. "Yes. I endanger everyone if I stay. There are more Dragons to hunt."

He walked in close and embraced her tightly. She hugged him back, tentatively, and it was she that pulled away first, to face Kristoff again. He wouldn't look at her when she spoke. "Is there anything that I can do before? As a compensation or…?" –redemption, for your forgiveness?- she wanted to say, but she couldn't ask for forgiveness. It was too much, too great a gift to waste on her.

"Yes." He spoke icily. "Get the hell out of here before I kill you." He meant it.

She bowed her head. –He has good reason to hate me- she thought to herself, and yet she could not block the feeling of disappointment and hurt that she felt. Just for once, she wanted to feel accepted, completely, for what she was.

Darius held out his hand again and she shook it, surprised to feel the coolness of a piece of paper in her palm. "Read it when you leave". He whispered to her. Nodding to him, she slipped the note up her sleeve and turned to leave, having everything that she needed.

It made her feel strange, to leave them—Darius in particular—just like that. As if they were business partners that had spoken for ten minutes and then left. But it wasn't like that. She had told Darius her secret and he had made her laugh. And now she left so coldly. It made her feel wrong, but at the same time, she knew it was the right thing to do.

She was far out of their sight before she opened up the piece of paper. On it was Darius's scrawled handwriting, written hastily. He had most likely scribbled it while she was speaking to Darius, or maybe he had anticipated it and had written it while she was still unconscious.

_Rose, you didn't think for a second that I would let you leave just like that, did you? I'm not saying goodbye as if we were strangers. As soon as you read this, go to the clearing where the villagers were waiting while we took care of the 'Dragon hunting'. Wait for me. I want to say goodbye the right way. Signed, Darius._

Switching directions almost automatically, she headed into the forest.

o

He was sitting on a log when she arrived and he stood up when he saw her.

"You're overly dramatic, you know." She snapped at him, waving the note in his face before putting it back up her sleeve.

"I wrote it while you were still asleep. I _knew_ you were going to leave like that, and I didn't want you to leave before we could say goodbye."

"We said goodbye." Rose told him coldly. If she showed any warmth at all she would melt. A cold ice maiden with nothing to show. That was what she was now. Michael had taken away more than the special mind-link they shared. He had taken away her laughter, her tears, and her display of emotions. He had taken away her dependence and her fragility. All that he left her was power and guilt and sadness. And a coldness that made the snowfields of Mille Seseau seem like a volcano.

"Not the right way. The Human way."

"I'm not human anymore."

"You're not anything else either. You're Rose." Darius smiled and walked over to her. "Do you really have to go?"

"Yes. I wasn't lying. I endanger everyone around me. Just look at Kata. And Michael." She bit out the words. "Is everything taken care of?"

"Yes. I've told the villagers that you were a Dragon hunter and then that you were… unbalanced. The boy, Yaryl, tends to believe the latter. Kristoff thinks that you're both a Dragon hunter _and_ psychologically unbalanced. The people of Ceplao think that you're a madwoman. So everything is taken care of. There is no suspicion of the fact that you are the only remaining Dragoon or that you are the Black Monster."

"So now there is only you."

"Yes. Only me." Darius stared at her for a long time. "Are you going to kill me now?"

She touched the hilt of her sword for a second, lightly, and then shook her head. "No. I trust that you'll keep it a secret. I am correct?"

He smiled. "Always." He paused. "Smile. Let me see your smile."

She shook her head. "I don't know what that is anymore."

"Michael took away a lot from you."

"My very sanity." She laughed bitterly. That she could still do, bitterness. Darius ran his hand along her face, seeing the hollowness in her eyes, the suffering in the way she tried to hold her lips in a thin line.

"May I kiss you goodbye?"

His request seemed alien to her, but she nodded.

It was awkward, watching him move toward her. But his kiss was sweet and strangely funny, like he was. Tasting like jasmine tea and sorrow, feeling like raindrops falling gently on pond water. She found herself responding with the last of her emotions, using them up before she would have to be alone. She curled her fingers in his hair and an incredible sadness filled her.

He broke the kiss and leaned his cheek against hers. "Black Monster." He whispered. "Angel of Darkness."

She pulled away then, and he stared at her woefully. "Will I ever see you again?"

She paused, thinking of Charle Frahma and her spells of agelessness. Her fingers grasped her choker. Charle owed her. –I could visit him from time to time. After the killing every 108 years, maybe just for the companionship. Kristoff would never find out… and I would have something to keep me human-

-_No_. It would make _him_ less human to stay with you, as well as in danger. You must stay away. He deserves a mortal life.- She took a deep breath, shuddering. "No. We won't ever see each other again."

His breath caught in his throat and he seemed to gasp or choke. She hated that look in his eyes, so terrible. "Rose, I—I want you to know—"

She stopped him by placing her hand on his cheek. "I know." She said gently. "I know. But it will all be in vain. The pain will go away, for your life will fade. But not mine." She kissed him again, the last gift she could give him, and then turned and left.

Now she would have to be forever alone. She had her own darkness barrier now, one that would never fall.

o

Author's Note: I'm finished with it. I thought the ending was…different, but befitting. I wanted to make Rose stay with Darius, but it didn't fit her personality, and I wanted to put some angst into the story. If any of you have any suggestions, please leave them in the reviews. I'd really like to know your opinion about how the story ended, so I know what to do in future stories. And if you couldn't figure out what Darius was going to say before Rose cut him off, it was "I love you."


End file.
